


The Wedding Date

by BriMarie



Series: The Wedding Date Universe [1]
Category: High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (TV)
Genre: Childhood Friends, F/M, Fake Dating, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Longing, Revenge, Slow Burn, Wedding, Wedding date, inspired by the wedding date, rini - Freeform, rini is endgame, unaware feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-19
Updated: 2020-08-10
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:22:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 61,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25386748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BriMarie/pseuds/BriMarie
Summary: After Nini finds out her wealthy cousin was having a huge destination wedding where her ex who left her at the altar would be the best man, she knew she was in for a dreadful two weeks. To prove to her family and other guest that her romantic life is as full and thrilling as ever, she convinces her best friend to pretend to be her boyfriend.
Relationships: Ricky Bowen & Nini Salazar-Roberts, Ricky Bowen/Nini Salazar-Roberts
Series: The Wedding Date Universe [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1885189
Comments: 114
Kudos: 189





	1. Sticky Situations

Nini was overall pretty content with her life. 

She had a well paying job that she was good at as a ghost writer and producer at a local music studio in Salt Lake City. She owned a nice condo that she had all to herself. She had great and supportive friends, and she wouldn't have it any other way.

One of her favorite things about working at the studio is that her hours were flexible, which meant most of the time she got to choose when she wanted to go for lunch. So naturally she made sure her break hours were the same as her best friend Kourtney's.

Kourtney was a make up artist at Sephora so her hours were always set and were basically impossible to get changed, so Nini usually would accommodate around her schedule. Nini was actually about to head out to meet her at the tavern they planned on eating at until Kourtney barged in her office with a large take out bag.

"Surprise bitch. Betcha didn't expect me to be here."

Nini smiled and rolled her eyes. "I thought we were meeting at the tavern. What made you change your mind?"

Kourtney sits the food on her desk and pops a squat in one of the excess chairs. "I got off work a little earlier and realized how much I don't feel like dealing with more people than necessary if I don't have to, so I got take out. Also, I actually have some exciting news!" 

"Ooo do tell."

Kourtney begins to blush, and Nini can already take a guess as to what the news was. 

"Okay so I may or may not have met somebody today at the mall."

Nini squeals. "Oh my god! Tell me everything!"

Kourtney starts fiddling with her curls. "Well his name is Chris, and we met at my job. He apparently was there to shop for a birthday gift for his sister, and he walked up to me to ask what I thought would be the best lip stick for her complexion. When I was showing him possible choices, he complimented my outfit. Then we just ended up talking about ourselves for a little while. When he had to leave, we exchanged numbers. I've been texting him during any free moment I have."

"He sounds like your perfect match! I hope I'll get to meet him one day."

"We have a date planned for next Friday. I'll definitely FaceTime you afterwards."

"Well I'm glad at least one of us has a promising love life." Nini slumps down in her chair.

"Speaking of your love life, have you been using Hinge like I've been telling you to? I'm sure you've gotten plenty of matches by now."

"Yeah but none of them seem that interesting to me. Besides you know I'm not exactly in the right mindset to be dating."

Kourtney didn't even have to ask why. She knew how sensitive Nini got when she brought up her latest serious relationship, Ethan. Two years ago, Nini was supposed to get married to him. 

For some unknown reason to her, he had left her at the altar only saying he was sorry and that he didn't deserve her before sprinting out of the chapel leaving her heartbroken and humiliated. She had probably cried for months after that. 

A lot of her friends especially the male ones had considered ganging up on him for shattering her heart, but she always told them he wasn't worth it. Her friends would take shifts on checking up on her to make sure she was still eating and resting well. 

It had probably been the lowest point she had ever been in her life, and her views on love haven't been the same since then. To this day, she doesn't know why he didn't marry her, but she thinks that it's probably for the best that she never finds out.

"Don't you think it's time to possibly look for someone again? I mean it has been two years going on three pretty soon."

Nini scrunches her nose and shakes her head. "I think it's best if I stay away from men as long as possible."

"I'd hate for you to miss out on something nice just because some dumbass guy didn't see your value. Hey you never know, maybe mr. right was right under your nose the whole time."

Nini had no desire to continue the discussion of her failure of a romantic life. "So back to this Chris guy..." She says hoping she'd change the subject.

Kourtney perks up at the mention of him. "Oh yeah another great thing about him is..." Nini listens as Kourtney goes on and on about this man and has to hide her mild jealousy that Kourtney had found someone. When Kourtney finally went back to her job, Nini was left thinking about Ethan for the rest of her shift. 

When she gets home later that day, she crashes face front onto her bed. She desperately needs to stop torturing herself by thinking of her stupid ex fiancé. And she's got just the solution, cheap wine. When she gets up and pours a bottle of wine into a glass, she sees an envelope slip under her front door.

She reaches down and grabs the luxurious envelope. The front of it says "You're Invited" in the fanciest font she's ever seen. She carefully rips it open and pulls out the just as lavish laminated paper in it. 

_You've been invited to join Madison and Derek for their wedding in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico on May 20th._

_This is a VIP invitation meaning you get to spend two weeks in a resort with a few other close friends of the bride and groom to be. Feel free to bring a date along!_

_All expenses including plane tickets paid!_

_Please RSVP by Friday to Madison_

_Hope to see you there!_

She chokes on her wine when she read the "bring a date" portion. Her cousin Madison has always been very extravagant and dated rich, so she wasn't shocked about the over priced and over the top invitation and destination.

Unfortunately, Madison and her friends were very judgmental and would definitely make nonstop comments on her being single. Hell, she wouldn't be shocked if they brought up her runaway groom. 

As she thought of all the possible off hand compliments Madison's friends would say, she heard her phone begin to make the FaceTime ring and noticed the caller ID was her Momma C.

The moment she accepted the call, she was greeted by both of her moms faces that were far too close to the camera.

"Hi sweetie, oh my you look like hell!" Momma C says with a disgusted yet concerned face.

"Nice to see you too mom."

"Oh Carol, take it easy on the girl. You know she doesn't have a need to care about her appearance since she lives alone."

Nini rolls her eyes. "You know, I'm starting to think you guys called just to criticize."

"We just wanted to see if you got your invitation for your cousin Madison's wedding." Momma C says.

"Yep, got it right here." Nini holds it up to the camera.

"Good, so you're going right? Because you know Madison and her parents will give us hell if you don't. They're already gonna be offended we can't attend since we can't get off work." Momma D says.

"Wait so you're saying I'd have to go alone surrounded by _that_ side of the family?!"

"Well not exactly. You could technically bring a date if you wanted to." Momma D suggests.

Nini grimaces at the thought. She just simply could not see herself finding a reasonable date in time. "Hm pass."

"Oh come on honey, you can totally find some man to bring with. It could take your mind off of the fact that you're single and that Ethan boy." Momma C says. Dana slaps her wife's arm as a warning.

Nini frowns at the mention of that damned name. It's almost like she couldn't escape him today. "You know what? I actually have to go. I totally forgot about this work thing I have to do. I'll go to her wedding just to avoid her wrath. I'll talk to you guys later." Nini hoped her excuse was good enough to hang up, and she was thrilled when her moms didn't pick up on her lie.

"Glad you're going dear! We'll see you later. Love you, Bye!" Dana quickly ends the call ending Nini's misery. She tosses her phone on her couch and goes back to her room. She opens her dresser drawer looking for her songbook because right now seemed like a good time to try to escape reality through music.

She spots an old dusty envelope laying next to her book and picked it up out of curiosity. She peaks into it and her heart drops when she realizes what it is. 

Her old wedding invitation.

She debates on taking the full invitation out knowing that it'd just reopen old wounds, but some sadistic side of her said that she needed to look at it again. She pulls out the invitation fully and saw a picture of her and Ethan holding each other laughing about god knows what.

They looked so happy together. This was her first time seeing his face in about two and a half years. Technically the last time she saw his face was on his Instagram a week after he left her at the altar. She immediately regretted this decision. 

She was definitely going to need more wine.

***

A little later into the night, Nini decides that she was just going to suck up the fact that Madison and her prissy friends were bound to comment on her love life for 14 days straight, and that she'll probably be forever alone. 

Out of curiosity, she did want to know which of Madison's friends would be attending the ceremony so she could at least know who she had to spend two dreadful weeks with. She goes under Madison's Facebook page and wasn't surprised all of her recent post had to do with her wedding.

She scrolled through her feed looking under the comments of some of her friends and family stating they were planning on going. As she scrolled, she noticed a familiar name pop up on her screen. She feels the breath leave her body when she sees his icon and comment.

_Ethan Wacker: Bethany and I cant wait! I'm definitely gonna be one hell of a best man. See you in a few days!_

She reread his message countless times trying to process everything. This is just her luck. Not only did she have to attend a wedding she had no desire to go to alone, but she had to deal with her ex fiancé and his new woman because he happened to be the best man! Did she die and go to the bad place? 

She began to panic realizing she can't deal with all of this shit all at once, so she calls the emotional support group chat which contains Kourtney, Ashlyn, Gina, Seb, and Carlos.

After a few rings, all five other members answer their phones.

"Girl this better be good because I'm midway threw season 4 of _Gilmore Girls_ with Sebby, and it's getting juicy." Carlos says.

Nini rolls her eyes. "I guarantee whatever Lorelai and Rory are dealing with is not nearly as insane as what I've gone through in the past few hours."

"Uh oh that's your stressed voice. What's wrong?" Gina asks. 

"My life has somehow become a Nicholas Sparks movie. I was recently invited to my boujee cousin's wedding in Mexico, which by the way I have to go to alone for two weeks."

"This is a problem?" Ashlyn asks.

"Ethan is the best man." 

A collection of sympathetic oh's and swears could be heard.

"Well it can't be that bad right?" Kourtney says.

"The plot thickens actually. He's bringing his girlfriend who he seems pretty serious about." Nini may or may not have scrolled through her page before calling. 

"Welp you were right, Lorelai and Rory have nothing on you. This is a nightmare!" Carlos admits.

"What're you gonna do?" Seb asks.

Nini shrugs forgetting for a second that they couldn't see her. "Tolerate watching the man I used to love fawn over his new chick and pretend like I'm okay with it I guess." 

"Surely there has to be another way." Gina says.

Ashlyn snaps her fingers loud enough it echoed threw the phone. "Wait Neens, don't most weddings allow you to bring along a date?"

"Yeah why?"

"Well why don't you just bring a guy to pretend he's your boyfriend so you're not the only one without a date." Ashlyn suggests.

The others all agree except for Nini. "I feel like that'd be more pathetic than actually going alone, and who exactly would I bring anyways?"

They all pause to think before Seb speaks up. "Oh how about Ricky? He'd totally be down! Also he hates Ethan like _a lot_ , so he actually would most likely say yes."

"That's a great idea; also Ricky would literally do anything for Nini. It's like you've got em' wrapped around your finger." Gina adds.

Nini blushes at the thought of bringing her longtime best friend as her fake boyfriend. "Don't be ridiculous! He'd never do such a thing. Plus, I'm pretty sure he can't just call off work like that."

"Girl you know damn well he'd cancel all his plans just to help you out. Don't even try that." Carlos says.

"Mm hm and I bet you two could pull it off really easily too. I mean you already act like a couple a lot anyways, so it should be second nature!" Kourtney says.

"We do not!" Nini's voice became pitchy.

"Nini, you should at least consider it." Ashlyn states.

"I don't know guys. I can see that getting really messy." 

"Well in the end, it's your decision. Whatever you decide we'll support you." Seb claims.

"Thanks guys. You guys are the best; I'll let you know what I decide."

"Well good night guys, I desperately need to see what this dumb bitch Rory does next. I swear she better not get back with Dean or I will scream. Love you!" Carlos says as he hangs up the phone. The others also say their goodbyes as they end the group call.

Nini plops down on her bed and thinks about what all of them suggested. Ricky was a great choice if she had to choose one of her guy friends. He had known her for over 20 years now and was the person she went to when she was having major problems. 

He had been her rock during that dark period after Ethan left her. He was the most present and made sure she was alright. He had spent the night just lying next to her so she would feel less lonely for almost a year straight, and she couldn't have been more grateful for him.

She hated lying with a passion, and if she decided to go through with this, she'd just be stressed about getting caught the entire time.

On the other hand, she'd love to see Ethan's face if he saw her with Ricky. When they dated, Ricky and him had always had a rocky relationship due to either being awkward or passive aggressive with each other. 

Ricky had no problem butting heads with anyone who deserves it, especially Ethan's argumentative personality. Sometimes she was worried they'd throw hands at each other.

When they weren't at each other's throats, they'd just avoid the others presence and would put on a friendly guise when they were around Nini for her sake. I guess she should've taken their shaky relationship as a sign that she probably shouldn't have been with Ethan in the first place. 

If your best friend doesn't get along with your significant other, it's probably a bad sign. Also, Ethan secretly admitted to Nini that he was intimidated by her strong relationship with Ricky. 

She had to reassure him multiple times that Ricky was definitely not a threat and that they were just good friends. Bringing Ricky would be such a slap to his face, she felt a vengeful smirk form on her face.

The more she thought about it, the more she was beginning to favor this plan. 

***

If there's one thing she knew about Ricky, it's that if you want him to do something big for you, you gotta meet him half way. Two days after her little chat with her friends, she decided to go with the plan. 

She had been nervous all day trying to think of a possible way to tell him her very odd situation. She already planned out her evening with him; she's going to treat him to all of his favorite spots in the city before asking the big question.

After work, they decide to car pull in her car. She nervously taps the steering wheel as she waits for him to come out of his building complex. She begins to give herself an internal pep talk.

_You can do this. It's not that big of a favor to ask. Besides, it's just Ricky for crying out loud! He'd do anything to help you!_

Her passenger side door opens, and it startles the hell out of her. She calmed down a bit when she realized it was just Ricky. 

"You know, you probably shouldn't just leave your doors unlocked like that. What if I were the Hash-slinging slasher?"

Nini snickers. "Well last time I checked, you don't have a rusty spatula for a left hand, dark red eyes, and a black hunch-backed body." 

"I'm full of surprises Nina."

Nini playfully rolls her eyes as she starts her car. "Anyways, are you ready for an entire night of nothing but consistent hang outs and junk food?"

"Hell yeah I am, but first you know I gotta play the song."

"Oh god, please tell me it's not _that_ song."

"Oh honey, it's most definitely _that_ song."

She sighs in defeat. "Here we go."

The moment the beat began playing, Nini mentally prepared herself while Ricky was smiling like an idiot.

"Someeeeebody once told me..."

"Spare me please!"

She first takes them to a sports bar that she couldn't stand, but Ricky loved it. She visibly cringed when she saw the bartender had written his number and a gross message on the receipt for her. 

Next she takes him bowling, and he absolutely destroys her. To be fair, she was never good at it and knew that he loved to show off his many positions on how to get a strike. 

She even let him teach her how to position herself appropriately by wrapping his arms around her as they both rolled the ball down the alley. ~~She might've enjoyed his body pressed against hers more than she liked to admit~~.

Of course he won both because he actually was really good at bowling and because she purposely made sure she wasn't trying too hard to win. She didn't mind losing one bit. Tonight wasn't about her anyways.

She takes them to the last destination, which she knew would really put the cherry on top. His favorite place in the entire city was the Salt Lake Candy Corner. He had a huge sugar tooth and would always try to drag her here anytime he could. 

She had paid for as much candy he wanted and even got a little for herself. She watched as he scarfed down some sour patch kids as they sat by the fountain. She resists the urge to wipe the sugar on his cheek. He puts his candy to the side and looks at her with a skeptical face. 

"Alright Neens, you clearly have been buttering me up to tell or ask me something all night. I know you hate that bar, you don't suck that much at bowling, and wouldn’t willingly come to Candy Corner all of a sudden after I’ve been asking for weeks to come here. What's up?"

"What? What if I wanted to just treat my best friend from the kindness of my heart?"

He gives her a knowing face and she drops her facade. "Okay fine, yeah I've totally been buttering you up."

"And what exactly am I being buttered up for?"

"A really _really_ big favor."

Ricky raises a brow. "How big we talking?"

She opens her hands wide. "Pretty damn big."

"You didn't commit some felony did you? Cuz I'm way too pretty to go to jail." He jokes.

She shoves his shoulder. "No!"

"Then what is it Neens?"

She hesitates when she meets his eye, and she takes a deep breath. Here goes nothing.

"You remember my cousin Madison right?"

"Sure, the one who dates rich."

"Yep, that's the one. Well she's getting married in a little over two weeks from now in Mexico, and I was invited and I'm being forced to go by my moms. It's all expenses paid. I was going to go alone until I found out a certain somebody would be there..." 

She was almost afraid of seeing Ricky's face when she said who that somebody was. Her pause concerns him. "Who'll be there?"

"Uh well you see the best man is...Ethan and he's bringing his girlfriend."

Ricky's face becomes cold, and she can clearly see him clinch his jaw. It was amazing how angry he became just by the mention of his name. His current face mildly reminded her of how pissed he was on her wedding day. 

Ricky was the hardest one to convince to not attack Ethan since he already didn't like him, and leaving his best friend at the altar definitely heightened his dislike for the guy. 

"You have to see that bastard for two straight weeks alone?" His eyes are a mix of fury and worry for her.

She fidgets with the ends of her top not meeting his gaze. "Well that's where the favor comes in." He can tell she's struggling to ask him whatever it is, so he combines their hands to settle her nerves. She looks up at him and feels a little better. 

"I want you to pretend to be my boyfriend for the wedding."

He's stunned by her question, and she panics because he's gone stiff. She should've known he'd react weirdly. She feels so stupid to think he'd do something so absurd even if it's for her.

"I'm sorry! It was silly of me to think you'd do such a crazy thing. Just forget I even asked." She covered her face to hide her reddened cheeks. She feels him squeeze her thigh, and she ignored the electricity that went through her.

"Sorry I didn't mean to freeze up on you like that Neens. You just caught me off guard; that's all. I don't have an answer for you right now, but I promise to let you know before you head out. When do you head out?"

She uncovers her face. "Friday."

"I'll have my answer before then."

She smiles and rest her hand on top of his that's on her thigh. "Thank you Ricky."

A comfortable silence comes between them before Ricky smugly looks down at her. "So what made you choose me?"

She rolled her eyes and nudged him. "Don't flatter yourself. It was actually Ashlyn's idea to ask you." 

His smug smile drops slightly, and she swore she saw a flash of disappointment in his eyes.

"I would've chosen you though."

He smiles. "Yeah?"

She nods. "In a heartbeat."

He joins their hands again. "Cool."

After Nini drops him off, he knew he had to get a second opinion on this whole ordeal. Lucky for him, his other best friend who happened to be his roommate, Big Red, was always up at untimely hours. Speaking of the devil, he was up playing GTA in the living room.

"Yo how'd your little date with Nini go?"

Ricky rolls his eyes. He's so used to Big Red calling his and Nini's hangouts dates. "Not a date, and I actually was gonna talk to you about it because I need your two cents." 

Red pauses the game to focus on his friend. "I'm listening."

Ricky plummets down into the seat across from Red. "She asked me to pretend to be her boyfriend for a wedding for two weeks."

Big Red's eyes bugged out of his head. "Holy shit dude."

"Yeah I know. I'm not 100% sure what I wanna say, but I think I'm more on the yes side. After all, the trip is free for us. But I also have to manage the skate shop with you, and I can't just up and leave for two weeks out of the blue. But Nini would be trapped in Mexico with that asshole Ethan and his girl for 14 days, and she'll be miserable."

Red waves his hand for him to stop rambling. "Dude wait, hold on. Nini asked you to pretend to be her boyfriend for a wedding that her ex fiancé will be attending in Mexico for two weeks for free? Did I get that right?"

Ricky nods. "Yeah that's pretty much it."

"Are you seriously thinking twice about this?!"

"Uh should I not?"

Red stares at him in disbelief. "Dude are you kidding? You should totally do it because you get to travel for free, spend time with your favorite person who you deny having feelings for, and help her make Ethan jealous. It's a triple win bro."

Ricky chooses to ignore the part about him having feelings. "But who'll run the shop with you?"

"EJ can handle things while you're gone. Don't worry about that. Go have fun man; you deserve it!"

"Are you sure?"

"Oh my god Ricky go take advantage of a free trip. I can't believe I have to try to force you."

"I guess I'm going to Mexico then."

"And maybe you two will finally see what literally everyone else sees when you're there."

Ricky groans as he throws one of the decorative pillows at him. "I'm going to bed." Ricky begins walking to his room not wanting to deal with Red's teasing. 

"You can't run from your destiny!"

"Watch me!" Ricky slams his door behind him.

Ricky meets up with Nini the following day and tells her he's down. She hugs him, kisses his cheek, and claims she owes her life to him. He couldn't stop the blood that rushed to his cheeks. When he saw how happy she was, he knew he'd do anything to see her like this again.

***

_Friday_

Nini and Ricky were currently on their plane waiting for take off. She noticed that for some reason Ricky had his board laying beside him.

"I can't believe you're actually bringing a stupid skateboard to a destination wedding."

He makes a mock offended face as he hugs the board and covers its "ears".

"Hey, don't you dare talk to Franklin Jr. like that ever again."

"You named it after your childhood teddy bear?"

"Yeah, and what about it?"

"How're we still friends again?"

He wraps his arm around her. "Because we complete each other, and you can't imagine living without me duh." 

"Hmm debatable." She teases.

He makes a pouty face, and she hugs him to reassure him she was kidding.

The flight attendant strolled by with a cart full of liquor. "Can I get you guys anything to drink?"

"Martinis." They say in unison. The woman happily pours them two glasses before moving onto the next aisle. Nini raises her glass towards him. 

"A toast to the hell of a two weeks we're gonna endure."

He taps his glass on hers and they take a few sips.

"Shall we watch a movie together during this five hour flight?" He suggests.

"You know damn well you're gonna fall asleep within the first 20 minutes of the movie."

"Am not!"

"Believe what you wanna believe Bowen, but I know you wayyy too well."

"Psh we'll see about that."

Thirty minutes into the flight, Ricky falls asleep in the beginning of _When Harry Met Sally_ like she said he would. His head slowly slumped over until it landed on her shoulder and she let him. 

She quietly snickers when she sees drool on the side of his lips. She takes out her phone, snaps a picture of him, and made it her home screen.

Since she had plenty of quiet time for the next few hours, she had let her mind wonder and think about this whole situation. She still thinks it's insane, but she has come to peace with her decision.

Unbeknownst to them, they had no idea what they were getting themselves into. 

***

When the plane landed, Nini's stress slowly began to rise with every step. The fear of possibly getting caught is now starting to truly hit her, and it didn't help that it had totally slipped her mind to warn Ricky exactly how exhausting Madison, her immediate family, and friends were.

He never really got to get to know Madison the few times she came around, and that was definitely for a reason. She was a handful.

As they wait for their luggage to come around the baggage carousel, Nini figured this was a good time to catch him up to speed. 

"Hey Ricky, there's definitely some things you should know before we meet Madison in a few minutes."

He directs his attention fully to her as he held onto his board. "Such as?"

"Well you see Madison and her immediate family are very snobby and only care about prestige hence why she dates rich. Also, her friends are usually obnoxious, nosy, two-faced, and enjoy home wrecking as a hobby."

Ricky scrunches up his nose. "Nini, did you trick me into spending two weeks with the Kardashian's?!"

"I guess that's one way to look at it."

He scratches the back of his head. "Anything else?"

"Oh her friends will most definitely hit on you eventually." 

"Woah woah woah, why is that a definitely?"

"Well because they like to try to take what's not theirs, and because well..." She blushes as she looks away. "Let's be honest you're a good looking guy."

She immediately regrets her words when she sees his smug face.

"You think I'm good looking?"

She rolls her eyes but couldn't hide the smile that was creeping on her face.

"Well just because we're friends, doesn't mean I'm blind Richard. Don't let it get to your head."

"Too late for that. I will definitely not let you forget you called me hot."

"I did not say you were hot. I said good looking."

"It was heavily implied."

He moves closer to her and plays with the ends of her hair, which made her painfully aware of how intimate his gesture was.

"Oh look our luggage is here." She quickly leaves his side and grabs their bags desperate to get out of this conversation.

He thankfully doesn't continue his teasing as they go to the airport's entrance. Nini spots Madison pretty quickly due to her being the only one in the airport dripped in Gucci and has a driver standing next to her.

Madison seems to see her too and waves at the pair as she and the driver approaches them. 

"Nina, so nice to see you! It's been far too long." Madison gives her a stiff hug as if they were acquaintances.

"Nice to see you too Madison."

Madison looks over at Ricky and eyes him up and down. "You look familiar. Have we met?"

He nods and holds his hand out for her to shake. "Yes we have a few times, but I don't blame you for forgetting me. I'm Ricky, Nini's boyfriend."

Nini felt a shiver go down her spine at his introduction. She hasn't heard him refer to himself as her boyfriend yet, and it felt so strange coming from his lips so naturally.

Madison stares at his hand as if it were some virus. "Ah now I remember you. You're the boy that'd come around sometimes when I visited. You know, I always thought you two would eventually get together. I guess I was right." Ricky and Nini awkwardly laugh. 

"Enough chit chat, there's plenty to do today. I can't wait to talk all about the extravagant activities we'll be doing." Madison snaps her fingers. "Diego get their bags, and put them in the car." She doesn't even wait for him to grab the bags before she's strutting to the car.

Ricky ducks his head down to Nini's ear. "She's like a real life Sharpay, and I think I'm already terrified of her." Nini laughs and nods in agreement. "You should be."

On the ride to the resort, Madison spoke about her wedding and herself the entire time, which is exactly what Nini expected from her. Ricky and Nini would give each other an occasional distressed glance as they listened to her gloating.

When they finally arrived at the resort, Ricky and Nini were relieved that they didn't have to be trapped in a car with Madison any longer. They swiftly get out of the car, and their jaws practically fell to the floor when they saw where they were staying.

The place looked like a palace with the most gorgeous landscape they've ever seen, and it was oceanside. It was definitely something neither of them thought they'd ever get the chance to stay in unless they saved for the next ten years.

"Holy fuck." He says.

Madison snobbishly looked at the two enjoying how shook they both were. "You guys are acting like you've never been to a five star resort."

"We haven't." Nini says.

Madison looked a little shocked. "Really? Oh wow I assumed everyone has gone to at least one by the time they're 18, but I guess not everyone is as blessed as me. Shouldn't be that surprised though; you guys have probably never even left Salt Lake. Any who, I'll show you guys where you'll be staying. Diego, take their bags up."

Ricky saw that Nini was about to retaliate to her rude remarks, but he held her hand to calm her down. It wasn't worth starting a fight over. Ricky could overhear the swears Nini were saying under her breath as they followed her hand in hand to their room. 

They finally get to their rooms, and Madison opens the door for them. Ricky and Nini were amazed by how upscale their suite was. It had a huge king size bed, a balcony, living room, two sink bathroom, and a mini kitchen. It was basically a mini apartment.

"This is where you guys will be staying for the next two weeks." She hands them a pamphlet with her and her fiancés faves on it. "This is the itinerary for all of the activities in order. I expect you guys to be on time for each and dressed accordingly. Tonight is just a dinner at the resort's beach side restaurant with drinks at 7 sharp. Okay toodles!" She didn't wait for a reply back as she and Diego left the two alone.

"You know, I'm starting to see why you didn't want to be alone. If she's like this, I'm genuinely scared of meeting the rest of the wedding party."

"Better prepare yourself because you're meeting them tonight."

"Ughhh. I'm definitely gonna take advantage of the next few hours of peace and quiet." He fell back on the enormous bed. Nini froze in her spot because she's just now realizing she had to share a bed with him. 

It's not like they haven't shared a bed before. Growing up together meant tons of sleepovers at each other's houses. Sometimes they would share the same bed, but they had stopped doing that when they got older with the exception of when he was comforting her after her failed wedding.

He pops up from the bed, walks over to the bucket with complimentary wine in it, and pours them both a glass. "We're definitely gonna need plenty of this stuff." 

She takes her glass and takes a large sip. She eyes the drink in astonishment due to it tasting like actual heaven on earth. "What're we gonna do for the next few hours anyways?"

"I don't know about you, but I'm gonna go take a shower so I can be fresh for tonight. Wouldn't wanna upset the tyrant bride." She chuckled as he took one last sip of his wine. Suddenly, he began to undress right in front of her throwing her off guard.

She felt the blood rush to her face when she saw his bare chest and slid off his pants. "Woah dude why're you getting undressed in front of me the fuck?"

He looked at her confused. "What? You're acting like you haven't seen me in just my underwear before. I wasn't gonna strip completely naked unless of course you wanted me to." He nudges her arm teasingly, and she slaps his arm.

"Shut up! Go take your shower perv."

He laughs at her flustered reaction as he makes his way to the bathroom. She catches herself staring after him and forces herself to look away. She needs to chill out before she let her mind run wild lewd thoughts. Speaking of chilling, they needed more ice for the wine.

She grabs the bucket and makes her way out of the room. She had been so focused on her phone that she didn't notice someone in front of her until she bumped into them dropping the bucket in the process.

"Oh I'm so clumsy sorry." She didn't even look at the stranger more focused on grabbing the bucket and leaving out of embarrassment.

"Nini?"

She freezes when she hears that familiar voice say her name. She slowly looks up to confirm if it was the person she thought it was. 

"Ethan?"

He lends her a hand to help her up, but she declines it as she stood on her feet. 

"I haven't seen you since...well you know." He awkwardly scratches his neck.

She wanted so desperately to say a snarky remark or slap him for even attempting to have small talk with her as if he deserved her time after what he did, but she decided against it.

"Nice to see you Ethan. I'm just gonna go get some ice." She began to walk past until he lightly gripped her wrist. She stiffened at his foreign touch.

"Wait Neens, I just wanted to catch up. See how life's going."

She wanted to puke when he called her the endearing name Ricky had given her when they were kids. He had no right using that nickname anymore. 

"It's just Nini, and life has been fine."

"Well if you want-

"Actually Ethan, I have some things to do. I'll see you at the dinner."

Before he could speak again, she quickly made her way back to her suite and closed the door behind her. She never even got to do what she intended on doing. She let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding in. She barely registered that the bathroom door had opened. 

"Hey Neens, what's wrong?"

She looks at Ricky who's only in a towel and still had water droplets rolling down his body. She waves him off. "It's nothing."

"Nini, it's obviously something."

She sighs."I may have bumped into Ethan in the hall a second ago."

He didn't say anything at first. That angry face found its way to his face already. He walks up to her and held her hand.

"What'd he say?"

"Not much since I basically ran away from him the second I had a chance. He was clearly trying to catch up on my life for whatever reason."

He scoffs and rolls his eyes. "He doesn't deserve even a second of your time. I can't stand that guy."

He notices she has her thinking face on, so he lightly squeezed her hand to break her from her trance. 

"What're you thinking about so hard?"

"Do you think we made a mistake coming here? If I'm already acting like this after speaking to him for a few seconds, I can't imagine handling him for two more weeks." 

Ricky shifts one of his hands to her shoulders while the other lifted her chin so that she met his gaze. 

"You didn't make a mistake. You're just having first day jitters, and you get really jumpy when you lie. Everything will be fine I promise. I'll make sure of it."

She looks at him with hopeful eyes. "You think so?"

He rested his palm on her cheek. "I'm positive." He pulled her into a hug completely forgetting that he was still wet from his quick shower. Even though she loved his comfort, she wasn't exactly enjoying her top getting soaked.

"Ricky, you're getting me wet."

He smirks into her hair. "That's what she said."

She grinned amusingly for the first time since she's been here. "I hate you." She slapped his chest light heartedly and let go of him as she walked to the living room.

"You couldn't hate me even if you tried Sal-Robs."

She flipped him off covering the growing smirk on her face from him.

***

_Evening_

Ricky and Nini made sure they were down at the restaurant at 7 sharp not wanting to witness the wrath of Madison. Ricky is pretty confident she's actually a dragon hiding in human skin.

They walk in holding hands and sees Madison and her friends already seated on the private area of the restaurant. For a second, Nini panics thinking they somehow lost track of time but it was only 6:55.

Madison waves at them when she sees them from the distance. "Oh it seems Nina and her beau finally decided to join us." 

Nini forced a smile on her face. "Sorry we didn't think everyone would be so early."

Madison gives her a fake smile. "Yeah well I didn't expect you two to understand what I mean by 7 sharp, but no worries you'll learn over the next 14 days. Please take a seat in your designated spots."

Nini unintentionally tightened her grip in Ricky's hand causing him to groan a bit. They sat in their seats, and Ricky pulled her seat closer to his so that he can wrap his arm around her without even thinking. 

Nini searched the room until she landed her eyes on the person she was looking for. Ethan was man spreading arm around his girlfriend glaring at her and Ricky. One of the many things she remembered about Ethan was his jealous gaze since he had shown it a lot when Ricky was a little too touchy with Nini when they were dating.

She held onto Ricky's upper thigh and rested her head on his shoulder still looking at Ethan. She watched in amusement as he squirmed in his seat giving her a stern look. She already knew exactly what was going threw his head. Ricky had been completely oblivious to the entire interaction too focused on the bride to be.

"Since everyone is here, you guys may enjoy the bread and wine that has already been placed on your tables as we await the food. Enjoy!" Madison says before making her way to her seat.

Ricky looks at the fancy name cards for the food and squints as he tries to read it.

"Dafuq does this say? Horse divorce?"

Nini raises her brow and snatched the small sheet of paper from his hand. She looks at him with both amusement and disbelief. 

"Ricky you ignorant slut, this says Hors d'oeuvres."

His lost look remained on his face. "The hell does that mean?"

She let out a laugh finding his horrible pronunciation hilarious. "It means appetizers silly."

"Damn these rich people and their unnecessarily fancy words." He takes some bread and takes a bite. She can't help but smile at how cute he looked right now. She pecked his cheek and returned her head to his shoulder.

She felt a light tap on her shoulder. "You guys are so cute! Your matching outfits are to die for. Matt why didn't we think of that?" The blond woman smacked her date's arm, and he glares at her.

Nini hadn't even realized she was matching with him until just now. She had on a sky blue sundress while he had on a white button down with a sky blue tie and khakis. She gave her a mental pat on the back for accidentally syncing. 

He was too busy chowing down on his food to see that someone was even talking to them. "Thanks, I'm Nini and this is my boyfriend Ricky." The rosy cheeked woman smiled. "I'm Brooklyn, and that's my fiancé Matt." Nini was pretty thrilled at least one of the guest seemed nice. 

"So how did you two meet?" The blond rest her head on her hand leaning closer to Nini.

Nini's smile faltered. _Fuck._ She totally forgot to think of an origin story of their relationship. How could she be this sloppy? This was so out of character of her. Her mind had gone blank, and she imagined she probably looked like an idiot. Luckily, Ricky came to the rescue.

"It was actually quite the story." He cuts in. He brings her even closer to his chest. "You see Nini and I go wayyyy back. We met back in kindergarten when I saw a really pretty girl with pig tails playing alone on the monkey bars. Of course, I just had to speak to her. When we began to talk, we instantly clicked and have been close ever since."

Brooklyn's eyes are twinkling in awe. "Oh my god how precious! You're childhood friends to lovers. I swore that only happened in the movies. You must tell me more! I'm dying to know."

Nini looks at Ricky hoping he still would take the lead. "Well one fateful night, I just looked at her and knew that I had totally fallen head over heels for my best friend. I took a risk by asking her out out of the blue a year ago, but luckily she said yes." He met her gaze and noticed she was intrigued with his story. "Now I can't get enough of her." He surprises her with a kiss on the cheek.

The pair continued to gander into each other's eyes both seeming a little thrown by his words. She was amazed he could come up with such a story off the top of his head.

Their little moment was disturbed by Brooklyn's squealing. "Awe that is so beautiful. I'm super jealous of your chemistry. I can definitely tell you two are in love."

The couple blushes while Nini snakes her hand in his. "It's hard not to love him." Nini adds, which was true. She did love him, but not the way everyone believes. He had a very special place in her heart. It was always a unique kind of admiration that was above her other friends but always below romantic emotions. 

She never knew what to call this kind of love since she's never felt it towards anyone except him, so she liked to refer to it as Ricky Love, but she'd never tell a soul that. She'd never hear the end of it.

The sound of a fork banging on a wine glass could be heard throughout the room and sure enough it was Madison announcing dinner was being served.

The dinner had been pretty successful for the fake duo. Ricky was apparently a really good actor and had fooled everyone with his charm and stories of the two. It was both impressive yet uncanny how easily he could improvise on the spot when needed. They were so descriptive and realistic that even Nini started to believe they were dating. 

Despite talking nonstop about his "relationship" with her, she picked up on how some of the women were basically undressing him with their eyes. Nothing gets these women riled up like an attractive man explaining how much they adore another woman. It was like a game for them since he was untouchable. She actually found it pretty funny that he was blind to it.

During the gap between dinner and dessert, the bar was serving specialty drinks and Nini was craving for a piña colada. She excused herself from her table and made her way to the bar alone. 

"What can I get you young lady?" The elder man asked.

"Piña colada in the largest cup you can find and an extra shot of rum please."

He winks at her and begins to prepare her request. As she waited by the bar, a figure came up and stood beside her. She looked up and frowned when she saw it was Ethan. She wasn't all that shocked; she was actually curious how soon he'd try to talk to her again.

"So you and Bowen huh?"

"Wow okay, you're not even gonna try to ease into it."

"When did that start happening?"

Nini folded her arms. "That's none of your business."

"What? I'm just curious. I mean can you blame me?"

"I could blame you for a lot of things." She snaps.

She looks to see if the bartender was almost done with her drink, but he was still mixing. 

"I just don't get why you can't answer the simple question."

"I don't get why you care so much."

Suddenly, she felt warm arms wrap around her torso from behind. When she saw the familiar ring, she knew who it was.

"Hey babe, I've been looking for you everywhere. This prick isn't bothering you is he?"

Ethan's posture became more hostile the second he saw Ricky. Ricky didn't even humor his existence by purposely only looking at Nini.

"I'm fine, but I'm glad you're here while I wait for my drink. It's been nice talking to you Ethan." Though her words were polite, her tone was dripping in rancor.

"I'll talk to you later I suppose." Ethan looks at them with a disapproving look before going back to his seat.

Nini turned around in his arms and hugged him back. "Thank you."

"No problem. I could sense your SOS signals all the way from the table. Plus, I was eyeing him the moment he walked over to you."

She nuzzled her head into his chest some more embracing how warm he was and how safe she felt. When she finally received her drink, Ricky had led them back to their spot pressing a kiss to her temple just before they sit down.

The rest of the night had been filled with exquisite desserts, small talk, and a few snobby comments from the guest. Ricky still had a huge issue reading the names of some of the platters making Nini laugh every time he'd attempt to pronounce one.

When she kept picking on him about not knowing the fancy words, he smashed strawberry shortcake onto her mouth causing her to laugh. The other guests didn't find it nearly as funny though, and began whispering under their breath while Nini and Ricky were too caught up in each other to care.

***

After dinner, they were drained from all the talking and pretending and were happy they could just be themselves for the next few hours.

"My god they are just as bad as Madison except for that girl Brooklyn; she was cool." He says as he rips off his tie and throws it on the carpet.

"Agreed, I hope we get to sit next to her for all the events."

She sees that he's stripping in front of her again and averted her eyes. "Ricky, for the love of god you're far too comfortable with being nude around me."

"How about we change into pjs back to back so neither of us see each other half naked?" He suggests.

She thought of just going to the bathroom to change, but she was far too lazy and exhausted to walk that far. (The bathroom was a literal three minute walk from their bed because the room was seriously that big).

“Alright fine."

They both grab their over night clothes and turns their backs to each other as they stripped. She undressed to her undergarments and stopped when she saw his bare back in the reflection of the window. 

She analyzed how perfectly sculpted his back muscles were. She's seen him shirtless countless of times over the decades, but this is her first time actually _looking_ at him. He was one of those lean dudes who are more buff under their shirts than you think, and she wasn't complaining.

She shook her head to get rid of her smutty thoughts and put on an old oversized t-shirt before hopping into the bed. He joins her soon after he switched off all of the lights. They laid a healthy distance away from one another just like he had done during her rough patch two years ago.

She attempted to drift into sleep, but was still bothered by some of the things he said to the wedding guests. She turns on her side.

"Ricky, can I ask you something?"

He turns to his side too. "Lay it on me."

"How'd you come up with all those fake love stories about us off the top of your head? Even though I knew they weren’t real, they felt real.”

"Well you see, that’s because they technically are real. I just use actual memories of us and give it a romantic twist. You'd be surprised how many of our moments together can easily be seen as romance."

Her face was beginning to become rosy. She didn’t really know how to respond to that. She thought of all the memories he spoke about and tried to see it in a romantic light. Looking back on some moments, she could understand why it was so easy for him to make it look like romantic love or for others to think they were dating. 

Recognizing she had been silent for a good while, she spit out the first words that came to mind.

“Oh, okay.”

She turned back on her back facing the ceiling because anything was better than looking at his ~~very appealing~~ face. He however didn’t move his position, and she could feel his eyes on her.

“Well you did an amazing job today. Thanks again.”

“You’re welcome. Night Neens.” He reaches over and gave her a kiss on the cheek as if it were completely normal for them. 

It took her a while to fall asleep due to her mind being too occupied with the events of today and the curly headed man peacefully snoring beside her who’d make the occasional toss and turn.

He began rolling to her side resulting in his arm falling on top of her stomach and leg sprung out on top of her legs. She considered moving him, but quickly had a change of heart when she saw how tranquil he looked. When she finally closed her eyes, she found herself snuggling with him a faint smile apparent on her lips.


	2. Zip lines, Sealines, and Trying Times

An obnoxious banging on the door awoke the sleeping duo from their slumber.

"Rise and shine lovebirds! We have quite the day today. I expect everyone to meet in the lobby in 30 minutes. You snooze, you get left behind." Madison yelled threw the door.

Ricky groaned as he slowly sat up from his position. "You know, I don't think I'd mind snoozing today if it meant not dealing with the Queen of Hearts wannabe and her henchman."

Nini giggles after she let out a yawn. "We both know we'd be beheaded if we purposely stayed behind."

"What's today's events anyway?" He reaches over to the pamphlet they were handed on the first day and looked at today's date. "Huh it looks like we're hiking in the forest to go zip lining. Maybe I won't skip today. That actually sounds pretty fun."

Nini freaks out when she hears zip lining. "On second thought, maybe we should stay in and accept the consequences." He looked at her addled.

"You don't like zip lining?"

She shivers just at the thought of it. "Yeah I know I'm not that vocal about some of my fears, but heights is definitely one of them."

He grapples her hands and kisses her hand. "Don't worry Neens, I'll make sure you'll feel comfortable the whole time. It'll be a breeze."

That didn't really change her mind that much however she did appreciate that he was trying. "We'll see about that." 

He shoots up from the bed and stretches. "Well I'd hate to be "late" again, so let's try to be down in 20 minutes instead. I call dibs on the bathroom first!"

He sprints to the restroom, and she jumps off the bed to chase after him. 

"Hey no fair! You got it first last time!"

***

Nini was all for supporting the wild and forests. Hell, she even took time to donate and sign some petitions to save endangered species when her good samaritan side made an appearance. But she loved them from afar. She thought pandas were cute, but you won't see her trying to pet a wild one anytime soon. That's basically how she was feeling right now.

As the wedding guest walked up the dirt path that led to the pinnacle of the mountain they'd be zip lining from, she found herself anxiously observing her surroundings making sure no arachnid or creepy crawler decided to hang out on her shoulder.

She scrunched her nose in disgust when she sees beetles crawling close to a tree she was passing. She was honestly shocked Madison chose this as an activity since she and her friends didn't seem like they even knew what hiking was.

When they finally made it to the top, Nini had already been out of breath and her acrophobia heightened when she saw just how high they were. She was amazed she didn't even notice she had climbed this far up. She unconsciously balled up her fists digging her nails into her skin.

Madison and Derek walked to the front of the group.

"Alright guys in order to go about our day as smoothly as possible, Derek and I assigned who'll be going in order. First up is Brooklyn and Matt, next is Ethan and Bethany, and then it will be Nina and Ricky following after."

Nini cringed; of course she was third in line to do this godforsaken activity. If she ever meets the person who came up with zip lining, she might have to square up because what on earth were they thinking?

Brooklyn giddily put on her gear while Matt mimicked her actions. The moment they were all set, one of the employees pushed the pair off. Matt's girlish scream could be heard the entire way down and though others laughed, Nini wanted to die.

Ethan and Bethany walked pass the pair, and Ethan gave Nini a little smirk that made her want to punch him. Ricky clearly didn't see him do it because he would've said or done something. They swung off the cliff letting out a few yells as they landed on the other side.

"Alright it's your turn Ricky and Nini." Madison signaled for them to step up. Ricky began walking to the edge but quickly realized Nini wasn't following.

"Neens, you coming?"

She shook her head and bit her lip. Her knuckles were white from her tight gripped fists. "I don't think I can."

She heard Madison scoff behind her. "Don't tell me you're afraid of heights. It's only like 50 ft or so." Soon after, some of the other guest snickered or whispered under their breath.

That did _not_ help ease her nerves at all, and now she feels ridiculous for fearing heights. Ricky reaches down to grab her hand and bends his head down to her ear. "Ignore them. Just focus on me. If you don't wanna do this, I'll walk down the mountain with you. If you decide to do it, I'll be right behind you."

She thinks before she makes her decision. She can't stand the thought of the rest of the wedding party talking behind her back or right in front of her for the rest of the day if she decided to not do it. But she also hates the idea of soaring 50 ft over the ground.

She lets out a defeated sigh. "I'll do it." She says loud enough for only Ricky to hear. He gives her a warm smile and guides her to the zip line. Some of the wedding party sarcastically clapped when they were getting in gear. Ricky sent a few of them a death glare. He couldn't believe people could be so inconsiderate and rude to someone's fear. 

When they were ready, Nini closed her eyes as she gripped onto the handles for dear life. She began giving herself an internal pep talk. 

_You can do this if you just pretend you're in your happy place. Just imagine you're in Paris being fed grapes by Harry Styles._

She felt Ricky's strong hand lay on her shoulder. 

"Everything will be okay; I swear."

And those six words were all she needed to hear to feel like she was gonna survive this. The employee slowly began to push them forward, and Nini's heart was going nuts. He finally pushed them off the edge, and Nini let out a muffled yell while Ricky was cheering.

Nini kept her eyes shut not wanting to be aware of how high she was. Somehow Ricky already knew she was closing her eyes. 

"Neens, open your eyes the view is beautiful. You can see the beach from here."

She hesitated at first, but she eventually slowly opened her lids. She looked over the horizon and was astounded by how mind-blowing the view was from up here. It looked like something from a portrait.

"Wow."

Her mind couldn't even come up with a better word at the moment since she was too captivated by the scene. She was definitely glad she opened her eyes. She had been so distracted by the sight she didn't even register that they reached the end.

When they unbuckled themselves, Nini jumps into his arms startling him. He gladly hugs her back but is a little confused with this reaction.

"Uh not like I don't love your hugs, but what's this all about?"

She placed her palms on both sides of his face and beams. "For helping me face my fear. I never would've done this without you. I would've missed out on a once in a life time opportunity, so thank you."

He beams too. "Of course. Anything for my favorite girl in the world."

She gets on her tippy toes and pecks his nose. He laughed nervously and began to tickle her sides eliciting a series of giggles from her. Little did they know that Ethan had been watching with envious eyes from the distance. 

As a little trophy for conquering her fear, she bought a little Bobby Jack monkey plush dressed in zip line attire giving a thumbs up from the gift shop. Ricky got excited because now Franklin has someone to play with.

***

After they showered, Ricky and Nini get downstairs at 6:50 (apparently in Madison's world, 15 minutes was too early, 10 minutes was on time, and arriving at the time of the event was too late).

Despite all her protests, Ricky had brought down his skateboard not caring if it would bother Madison since he was still upset about her belittling Nini earlier. Call him petty all you want, but no one gets away with picking on his best friend not even her own family. He was going to ensure he got under her skin tonight.

Ricky being the rebellious little shit he is refused to use his manners around any of the other people just to get a rise out of them. He man spread, denied using the appropriate utensils for certain foods, and would intentionally be on his phone when someone besides Nini was trying to talk to him.

He could hear the trash talk some of the people were saying, but he didn't mind one bit. Nini on the other hand wasn't exactly fond of his behavior and unwanted attention from her peers however she appreciated that he was doing this in her honor.

During the break between appetizers and dinner, Ricky decided this was a good time to practice some of his skate routines in the empty part of the patio. Nini just watched in amusement as the others watched him with a mix of awe and pure confusion.

Some of the women would find a poor excuse to go gawk and ogle him from the sidelines. Nini rolled her eyes when she saw how obvious they were being and yet he still wasn't aware of the women's lustful gazes.

Madison sat in Ricky's empty seat beside her giving Nini an angry look. "What the hell is your date doing? And who brings a skateboard out of country? Surely he could've gone two weeks without it!"

Nini smirks as she sips on her martini. "Oh you know how it is. Skaters gotta skate at least once a week or else they feel like they're gonna die. It's science. Didn't you know that?" She says sarcastically.

Madison huffs and rolls her eyes. "Well can you make him stop?! He's been acting like some sort of savage elementary school child or something all evening, and I'm not sure why. It's extremely distracting."

_Gee maybe it's because you're a total judgmental bitch who publicly ridiculed me earlier for having a mild anxiety attack, but I don't know. Your guess is as good as mine._

Nini rejects what she actually wanted to say and forms a fake smile. "Hm well you see I could, but if we're being completely realistic here he won't stop until he's perfected that move. So I say just suck it up for the next few minutes, and he'll be out of your hair."

Madison gives her a fleeting death glare before retreating back to her seat. Nini victoriously sipped her drink. Seeing Madison riled up had been more amusing to her than she cared to admit. She looked back at her friend as he jumped over a hedge, and all she could think was thank god for giving her Ricky Bowen.

***

_Later that evening_

"Ugh why is every channel in Spanish?"

Ricky kept flipping threw the various channels on their TV. 

"Gee maybe it's because we're in Mexico."

He hit her with one of the pillows on the couch. 

"Don't get smart with me Sal-Robs."

"Well you have to expect a smart remark when you ask dumb questions."

He sticks his tongue out at her, and she mirrors him.

He lands on a program Nini was actually familiar with. 

"Oo I love this show."

He furrowed his eyebrows at her. "Since when do you watch soap operas?"

"Since freshman year of college. My roommate was obsessed with them, especially the telenovela _The Passions of Santos_. I just kinda got hooked to them too. I gotta admit this one is some quality shit. It'll have you on the edge of your seat."

He scoffs. "It can't be that good."

"Is that a challenge?"

"Hell yeah it is."

"Bet, let's see if you get hooked after just one episode."

"Bring it on."

An hour and a half later, Ricky was actually leaning towards the TV completely engrossed with the insane and over the top storyline. 

"Wait a minute, Santos came back from the dead?! No one can come back from that 10 ft fall! Is he even human?! Nini are you seeing this shit?!"

He looks down at his best friend to see her fast asleep on the couch. He doesn't even recall her closing her eyes, but he's assuming it's been a while considering how deep in sleep she was. He smiles softly at her and turns off the TV. 

Too afraid of waking her up, he places a blanket over her body and plants a kiss on her forehead before retiring to the bed.

***

The following day had been one of their intense days.

Today was a day spent entirely at the beach, which Ricky and Nini actually liked since there are no beaches in Salt Lake. Luckily, none of the excursions started until the afternoon which meant more sleeping time for the guest and less time Ricky and Nini had to spend with the snobs.

Ricky had convinced her to wake up a little earlier so that they can choose where to eat breakfast since Madison was only going to serve them smoothies in the morning. They end up eating at a cafe close to the entrance and chill there until it's time to go. 

Ricky threw a grape in the air and caught it with his mouth. Nini applauded him as he bowed.

"You gotta teach me how to do that one day."

"How about now? We got like 6 more minutes til we have to leave.”

“Yeah sure.”

He backs up in his seat and grabs a handful of grapes. “I’m gonna throw these at your mouth and you just gotta try to catch them.”

“What if it hits somebody?”

“You gotta believe in yourself Neens.”

“But I don’t.”

“That’s quitter talk, and your moms would despise hearing you say such things.”

“Oh shut up and throw the damn grape already.”

She opens her mouth and positions herself so that she’s able to catch them.

“Alright here comes the first one.” He throws a grape and not shockingly she missed landing in her lap instead.

“Don’t worry I bet you’ll get this one. Move your mouth a little lower.” He tosses another one and it hits her square on the forehead. He giggles and she flips him off. 

“Okay third times a charm.” He tosses it and this time she finally catches it. They both cheer louder than they intended causing a few stares and he goes to the other side of the table to give her a hug.

“Wanna try one more?” She nods and positions herself accordingly. He throws the final one, but he aims horribly and it ends up flying over her head hitting the back of a person’s head who was walking by. Ricky shrinks down in his seat hoping the person wouldn’t know it was him.

The person turned around to see who the culprit was, and Ricky recognized it was just Ethan. Ethan made eye contact with him and Ricky smirked. Nini looked over her shoulder and rolled her eyes when she saw Ethan because he most definitely was going to try to find a way to bug them, and now he had a good excuse.

“Out of all the people you could’ve hit, it had to be my ex.”

Ricky shrugged. “Hey, to be fair he totally deserved it. He really deserves so much worse than a grape to the head.” 

She looks back at him and noticed he was walking towards them. “Ugh great now he’s coming here.”

Ricky mouths sorry to her, but it doesn’t help much. Ethan stood in between the two and gave them a devilish like grin. She thought it suited him well. 

“Well I cant say I’m shocked that the rebellious skater boy hit me with a grape.”

Ricky looked up at him with disgust and clenched his jaw like he always does when he sees him. “What can I say? I was born to rage.”

Ethan looked him up and down as if he were measuring him up before averting his attention to Nini. His shit eating grin became more friendly when he looked at her, and it made Ricky want to kick him.

“Good morning Nina, you look as lovely as always.”

Nini had to restrain herself from groaning.“It’s just Nini, and if you don’t mind we’re trying to enjoy the few minutes of free time we have left.” She was hoping he’d take the hint, but he didn’t budge.

“Well I figured I could at least try to say hi. It seems rude not to speak to someone you know.”

Ricky let out a frustrated groan. “Dude don’t you have a girlfriend or something? Go to her.”

Ethan glared at him, and Ricky did it right back with equal intensity. After a brief stare down, Ethan finally backed down but not before saying a few words to Nini.

“Maybe we can have more time to talk next time Nini.” He gave her a smile before walking back to his date. 

Ricky finally eased up when he was out of sight. “Please let me punch him.” Nini puffed air from her nose and shook her head. “As much as I’d love to see that, you know damn well you’d get arrested. And I need to have you around.”

“Pst, it might be worth it. I mean who hits on another dudes girl in front of them? The audacity.”

Nini smirks at his words. “Oh so I’m your girl now? Oh my, do you have a crush on me Ricky? How cute.” She teases. He blushes and playfully rolls his eyes. 

“Oh shut up you know what I meant.”

“I think it meant you loooovveee me and want to kiss me.”

“I hate you so much right now.”

“Is that anyway to talk your girl?”

He grabs the bag of grapes and begins chucking them at her, and she began giggling and throwing them back at him.

They were interrupted by someone snapping at them. They stopped throwing and realized it was an agitated Madison looking down at them (like she always did). Even though she was wearing shades, they could sense the disapproving eyes.

“When you children are done, the rest of us will be in the limo waiting.”

She turned around and sashayed away. Ricky and Nini looked at each other and started chuckling. It wasn’t even 10:30 yet, and they already managed to piss her off. 

Nini threw one last grape at him while the others weren’t looking before speed walking to the limo before he could retaliate.

***

The first excursion was a private boat tour which included snorkeling, SUP, and a fun water mat. Ricky and Nini were only familiar with one of those words, but were pretty excited to see what the other two things were.

They snorkeled first, and Nini got really excited when she saw a bunch of turtles swim by. One of the baby ones even let her pet its shell. Then stingrays passed by, and Ricky flipped them off because he doesn’t care how cool they look he’ll never forgive them for Steve Irwin. They both quickly returned to the boat when they feel seaweed touch their legs.

Apparently SUP stands for stand up paddle boards, and Ricky was surprisingly good at it. Nini on the other hand was not as balanced as him. She had tried to steer by herself numerous times, but always managed to fall into the water. After a while, she just chose to ride on the back of Ricky’s board roaming her fingers threw the shallow sky blue water as he paddled.

The final thing they do was the fun water mat, which is basically just what it sounds like. Unfortunately, they had to share with two other people, and it ended up being Ethan and Bethany. They had tried to stay as far as possible on the claustrophobic mat, but it was almost impossible.

Nini and Ricky tried to stay to themselves, but it was hard for Nini to pretend like she didn’t notice Ethan’s gaze on her. Just to get under his skin, she purposely kept finding a way to touch Ricky. She lied her arm on his chest as her hand played with his chocolate locks. 

She even gave him the occasional kiss on the cheek, and Ricky would always brightly grin when she did. She almost forgets her original goal was to make Ethan jealous when she sees how Ricky’s face lights up with every kiss she gives him. 

Ricky splashes her face with the sea water, which of course led to them getting in a little battle like they always do. Nini cups some of the water and pours it on top of his head, and she laughs when some of the salt got in his mouth.

All of a sudden, Ricky gets the idea to stand on the mat despite the captain telling him not to. He balances himself on it as if it were a skateboard. 

“I feel like Aladdin.” He balled his fists and placed them on his waist victoriously. Nini watches him perturbed. “Ricky you’re gonna fall.” 

He scoffs and waves her off. “You worry too much Neens.” 

“Okay but when you bust your ass, don’t expect me to feel sorry for you.”

“Unlike you, I actually have excellent balance.”

She looks at him mock offended, and her vengeful side showed up. She shakes the mat on both sides of him causing him to stumble. He eventually loses his balance and toppled over into the water. She wasn’t concerned he’d drown since he had on a life jacket. 

He spits up some water and glares at her. She just pointed and laughed at him while the other couple watched in mild amusement. 

“That was cold even for you Neens.”

She shrugged. “Should’ve never insulted my balancing skills.”

He made a crooked smile. “Somebody can’t take a joke.”

She reached out her hand for him and pulled him to the mat. Just as he was climbing on top, he yanks her down in the water with him. She yelped at the abrupt feeling of cold water. He laughed at her as she aggressively splashed water at him. 

Bethany chuckled at their antics as she rested her head on Ethan’s shoulder. “Awe they’re really cute together. Don’t you think babe?” Ethan moued at the couple. “Not exactly the words I’d choose.”

When they got back on the boat, they all dry off before they get back to shore to enjoy the rest of the day. While Nini was drying herself off in peace, Ricky mischievously looked at her. 

He rolled up his towel and whipped her with it. She jumped at the sting on her ass. She rolled up her towel and swung it at his legs causing him to yelp.

He tightened his towel. “Oh it’s on now Sal-Robs.”

“Hit me with your best shot bitch!”

The pair began to spar with each other hitting any exposed skin they could reach. The other guests scowled at them as the silently judged them.

Madison yanked Nini’s forearm before she could strike Ricky again. Nini looks at her like a deer caught in the headlights. 

Madison pulls her close to her face to stare into her eyes, and for a second Nini thinks she may be a death eater ready to suck her soul out. 

“Enough.” Though her tone was calm and collected, Nini could feel all the undertone venom in her voice.

Ricky and Nini awkwardly sat in their seats and looked to the floor like kids who were getting scolded for drawing on the wall.

The guests were all quietly gossiping about the two for a little bit until they went back to talking about how excited they were for the wedding next week.

Ricky nudged his leg to hers, and they meet each other’s gaze. A smile steadily emerged on both of their faces, and she nudges him back.

Madison’s patience: dangerously low 

Ricky and Nini’s jollity: exceptionally high 

***

When they get to shore, they all shower and meet up at a seafood restaurant by the ocean for lunch. Even at the restaurant, Madison managed to give each couple assigned seats like it was fucking kindergarten or something.

Ethan and Bethany were sat across from Ricky and Nini, and now Nini was starting to believe that Madison may be deliberately seating them next to her so she can suffer. Maybe Ricky’s theory on her being a dragon hiding in human skin wasn’t too far fetched after all.

The first half hour had been pretty cordial with small talk between the wedding party. Thankfully, Ethan hasn’t tried to speak to them, well at least not yet.

Like all great things, the peace soon came to an end.

Ethan looked with jealous eyes at the happy couple in front of him. He tried his best to bite his tongue and not cause a scene or even a possible fight, but that nasty side of him was begging to come out.

Something about their relationship just didn’t sit right with him. Sure, he had his suspicions that they might’ve harbored feelings for each other when he dated Nini, but for some reason he just wasn’t buying this. 

He hates that he even cared this much over an ex he swore he had gotten over, but he did. He _really_ did. Something was fishy, and he was going to find out even if that meant making some people uncomfortable.

When he saw them giggling with each other, He decided it was a good time now to interrogate the couple on some of the questions he was dying to ask.

“You know what’s crazy?”

Ricky and Nini’s smiles dropped when they looked at Ethan. 

“I don’t think I’ve ever had the pleasure of hearing your love story.” Ethan rest his head on his fist and gives them a mock interested face.

Ricky and Nini give each other an uneasy look. Though Ricky was able to tell all of those people those stories the other day, he didn’t remember a single one of them. It was also easier to lie to a group of people that had no idea about their lives. 

Ethan didn’t know all about their relationship, but he did date Nini for a solid two and a half years before they split, so they’d have to be very picky about their words. Since Ricky had taken the stage last time, Nini decided to take charge.

“It’s one hell of a story.” Nini put her hands in his. “Two years ago after a certain traumatic event occurred, Ricky here stepped up to help me get back on my feet. I really felt like I was at my lowest point in my life and wouldn’t bounce back after having my heart ripped out. But there he was gluing me back together by checking up on me consistently, lifting my spirits, and sleeping by my side when I felt lonely.”

She feels a smile creep on her lips when she thinks about how supportive he always is. “And I couldn’t help but say yes when he asked me out a year ago. It was basically our destiny.”

Ricky felt a weird sensation in his heart when she said destiny since not that long ago Big Red had claimed she was his destiny. He couldn’t take his eyes off of her after her mini speech. Turns out she was just as good at monologuing on the spot like him. 

Ethan grunted while the women who were secretly listening in on her story all awed. “Awe I’ve never heard your side of the story Nina. It makes your love story ten times cuter!” Brooklyn says. 

Ethan scoffs louder than he meant. “It’s pretty cliche if you ask me.” 

Brooklyn glares at him. “You’re just jealous you could never have a love like them. No offense to you Bethany; you’re a peach!” 

Bethany waves her off. “None taken! I actually agree. Though I love my story on how I got with Ethan, I gotta admit I’m envious of your strong bond with Ricky. That’s truly something magical.”

Ricky, who still hasn’t stopped looking at his date, places a kiss to Nini’s cheek and she pressed their cheeks together. “Thanks, I really lucked out with him.”

Ethan clenched his jaw. “So Ricky how long have you been secretly longing to date her? Surely you had been interested for far longer than a year.”

Ricky scowls at him. “Well if you must know Ethan, I’ve only been interested after she got out of a relationship.”

Ethan laughed humorlessly. “Oh please like you expect me to believe that. Surely you had to have been dreaming of this day. I mean it’s hard to ignore that she’s gorgeous, and you must’ve fantasized about what it’d be like to date her at least a few times during those twenty years of friendship. Am I right?”

Ricky begins tapping his foot absentmindedly trying to calm his nerves. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Oh I think you do Bowen.”

Brooklyn gives them a nervous glance and tries to give Ethan the signal to back down, but it seemed like that wasn’t an option.

The table was now silent with all eyes on the two men. They noticed the undeniable enmity between the two, but were not sure where exactly it was coming from. The tension in the air was so thick it could’ve been sliced with a knife. 

Thankfully, a few servers came down with their meals breaking the intense hostility in the air. Ethan gives him one last glower before giving his attention to his girlfriend. Ricky overhears Bethany ask Ethan what that was all about. He doesn’t start to chill down until he feels Nini’s lips on his jaw.

“It’s okay. Don’t get too worked up about it.”

He relaxes his muscles while she rested her head in the crook of his neck. She wrapped her arms around his torso, and he gripped both hands onto her arm. Even though he was calm, his urge to knock Ethan’s teeth in was still high.

***

Hours after they return to the resort, Ethan doesn’t bother them. Ricky assumes it must’ve been because Bethany convinced him to back down. He wonders if she even knew about Ethan and Nini’s past because by the looks of it she doesn’t.

Dinner was served to the guest a little later in the night since they had a late and hefty lunch (and a brief show courtesy of Ricky and Ethan). 

It was a rare night where they didn’t have designated seats, so Ricky and Nini chose to distance themselves from everyone wanting to desperately take a breath after today’s hectic events. 

They had maybe spoken a total of ten words to any of the other guests during the night as they sat on the empty patio. Suddenly, Nini gets an idea.

“Hey follow me.” She grabbed her plate and drink and began walking inside not waiting for Ricky to have time to respond. He follows her into the resort, and she sits down in the seating area of the same cafe they ate at for breakfast despite it being closed.

“Why’d we come in here?”

“I didn’t want to risk any prying ears hearing us because I wanted to talk about that Ethan thing that happened today.”

Ricky downs the rest of his drink knowing he’d need it if he were to talk about _him_. “Yeah sorry about that by the way, but you know how he has this special way of making my blood boil.” 

“I understand, but the last thing I need is for you to be assaulting anyone on this trip. Besides, if anyone is punching his face it’s definitely me.”

Ricky couldn’t argue with that. He’s still amazed she can even look at him without throwing a cup of water on his face. 

“I promise I will try my very _very_ hardest to restrain myself.”

“That’s all I ask.” Nini finishes the rest of her margarita. “Alright I’m so fucking enervated. I don’t think I can even muster the strength to get out of this chair.” She slumps back in her chair, and her eyelids began to flutter.

“Want me to carry you up?” 

She nods weakly. He throws out their plates and gives the empty glasses to an employee. He bends down to her level, and she hops on his back. When they got on the elevator, he had heard her steady breaths. The old woman who was already in the elevator gave him a friendly smile.

“You two make a lovely couple.”

Ricky blushes. “Thank you.”

“My husband used to carry me up the stairs when I was exhausted too. Brings back memories. She’s a lucky girl to have such a loving guy like you.”

The elevator door opened and the woman walked out. “Take good care of her.”

“I will.”

When the doors shut, he found himself smiling stupidly. He looked at the girl on his back and tried to pretend like he didn’t feel his heart beat faster at the sight of her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there’s most likely gonna be around 10-12 chapters sense I keep mashing two chapters together on here.


	3. Singing, Fighting, & a Little Whining

"Alright this is one of the few times I don't mind waking up early. Owe Neens, you're pressing too hard."

She lightly patted the powder on the tip of his nose whilst sitting on his lap. "Sorry, but it's almost impossible not to put some pressure on this volcano on your face."

"Why did I have to wake up to this hideous monster on my face? Why must god curse me with this travesty?"

She rolled her eyes as she blended her foundation on him. "You're such a drama queen. It's not the end of the world."

"You can blame my over dramatic nature on those drama classes you forced me to take in high school. Besides, that's easy for you to say! You woke up naturally beautiful as usual. I guess god does have favorites."

She blushed as she stroked the brush on his face. "Shut up, if anything I wake up looking like Bigfoot."

He squeezed her hips. "Hey, don't you dare say that about yourself. You're stunning, and you know it."

"I did not know it."

"Well now you do."

"Oh please you're just being nice."

"Nina, I swear to god you have to learn how to take a compliment. You're breathtaking, deal with it."

Her blush darkened, and she did the final touches on his nose. She never really knew how to take compliments, especially his because they were always so intense. She was always left speechless at his flattery. She smiled when she successfully hid the pimple.

"All done! You're beautiful again." She gave him a hand mirror, and he grinned when he saw her work.

"Maybe you should've been a cosmetologist like Kourtney. I feel like Princess Mia after that iconic makeover scene."

"You're prettier than her for sure. She has nothing on you."

"You know it sis." He snaps sassily and rolls his neck around causing her to make a hearty laugh. She hops off his lap.

"Come on your highness, we gotta get dressed for today. Don't wanna be late."

He pops up from the couch and dramatically sashays to his dresser. "A queen is never late, everyone else is simply just early."

"I should've never compared you to Princess Mia."

"There's nothing to compare; I'm superior."

"You wish you could handle ruling Genovia, Bowen."

He sighs over dramatically. "Take that back."

"I stand by my previous statement."

"I'm sending you to the dungeons."

She chuckled under her breath. "You're so ridiculous."

Suddenly, she feels a shirt hit the back of her head. She turned to look at Ricky who was trying to appear innocent. "Are you seriously gonna act like you didn't just throw your t-shirt at me?"

He shrugs. "I don't know what you're talking about. It must've been the wind."

She threw the shirt right back, and he dodged it. "Ah so I see you dare to start a battle with a royal, well you should know I always end up on top."

She balls up two of her t shirts. "Oh is that so?" She slowly walked towards him, which made him back up because he realized he had no nearby shirts to throw back at her. 

"Well only when it's a fair fight."

"Sucks, cuz I like to play dirty."

"Hey let's not get ahead of ourselves."

"Nah we're past that point sweetheart."

He books it to the other side of the room trying to find something to throw back, and she chases him. And that starts an entire mini battle in their hotel room resulting with their clothes all over the furniture and floor.

***

Today's activity was an authentic Mexican cooking class. Ricky had to admit he was not looking forward to this at all. He was never great at cooking; he was more of a "call me downstairs when the food is ready" or "fuck this I'm getting take out" type of guy. 

He knew how to cook very few things. Matter of fact, he could list all the meals he can prepare on one hand: ramen, grilled cheese, and scrambled eggs. 

Nini dragged him along to their cooking station when he tried to escape to the bathroom. "Oh come on Ricky it won't be that bad." 

"Uh have you forgotten who you're talking to? I literally fucked up making soup the night before we came to Mexico. What's worse is that it had step by step directions and yet I managed to fuck it up."

"Well the difference between then and now is that you have me to guide you. Also, you know Madison will try to make you feel bad for not doing it."

"Ugh fine, but I'm not gonna pretend like I'm enjoying this."

The instructor rang a bell to get the guests attention. "Buenas tardes wedding party for Madison and Derek. I'm Chef Martinez, and I'll be teaching you how to make authentic Mexican cuisines. Today's challenge is making a vanilla bean flan."

Ricky groaned louder than he means to, and Nini nudges him for being rude. "On your tables, you will see step by step directions. Now to spice things up, we like to have a competition between the pairs." Ricky was suddenly interested now that there was a possible prize involved.

"Whoever finishes cooking their flan to perfection first, wins $100 and a free meal for two at my restaurant. When I ring this bell, you may begin. Everyone ready?"

Ricky's competitive side came out, and he grabbed some of the utensils ready to go. Nini knew the moment the instructor said competition Ricky would go apeshit in order to win.

The chef rang the bell and Ricky began to frantically whip out everything they'd need. He aggressively stirred the ingredients, and Nini stopped him before he spiraled out of control.

"Woah slow down there tiger. Rushing won't get us anywhere. Slow and steady wins the race. Here let me show you."

She ducked under his arm to stand in front of him. He rested his head on her shoulder as he watched how she calmly dumped the ingredients into the bowl accordingly. 

She passed him a few measuring cups and seasonings so he can at least say he contributed. When she's done with the spatula, she lets him lick it. 

They're a little behind the others since Nini actually took the time to try to explain to Ricky how to appropriately prepare a meal or telling him the names of seasonings he was unfamiliar with. Eventually they do get theirs in the oven and are now just relaxing until they hear the dinger. 

She was leaning against the counter as Ricky laid both hands on both sides of her body. She noticed she had some left over caramel on her finger and puts it in front of his mouth. Without a second thought, he placed his lips over her index sucking her finger until it was clean. 

She feels goosebumps appear when she looks at his blissful expression. She knows he didn't intend for it to be sexual at all, but her mind can't help but imagine suggestive euphemisms for his gesture. 

One of the timers finally goes off breaking her little fantasy. The pair looked to see who's went off, and weren't shocked it wasn't theirs considering they were the third pair to get theirs in the oven. Alas, the dinging was from Ethan and Bethany's oven of all people. They place their perfectly sculpted flan on the table waiting for the instructor's approval.

Chef Martinez took a bite out of it to make sure it was fully cooked and smiled pleasantly. "Looks like we have our lucky winners!" 

"Yes!" Ethan cheered. Bethany gave him a warm hug as the others clapped for them except for Ricky and Nini. Ethan looked over at them and sneered. Ricky rolled his eyes. He'd be okay with losing against literally anyone else in this room before Ethan. 

"Even though we didn't get the prize, you still learned how to cook something besides cheap meals college students make, so I see this as an absolute win." Nini says. He cracks a smile and wraps her in his arms. Leave it up to her to change his mood in five seconds. 

"All thanks to my multi talented best friend." 

"You give me too much credit."

"There you go again rejecting compliments that you totally deserve."

"I can't help it."

He plants a kiss on her forehead as he brings her closer to his chest. Ethan's haughty sneer quickly fell at the sight of them acting all lovey dovey. Ethan may have won the prize, but Ricky and Nini still felt triumphant by the end.

***

After the cooking class, the guests were allowed to relax until the next activity began in a few hours. Ricky and Nini chose to roam the perimeter of the resort since they realized they never had a chance to explore it. They've accidentally gone in circles twice already. 

Ricky makes a frustrated grumble. "This place is far too big and super easy to get lost in. I feel like Harry Potter in the Triwizard Maze."

Nini spots a colorful room in the side of her eye and stops walking to examine it. "Hey what's that room at the end of the hall?" He squints his eyes to see what it is, but can't decipher it.

"Your guess is as good as mine babe."

"Wanna check it out?"

"I feel like that kind of curiosity is what gets people killed in horror films."

"Or maybe it's the kind like the Goonies or the Sandlot where it ends up being a fun and unforgettable adventure."

"Shit, you got a point there Neens. Aight fine we'll see what it is."

"Yay!" 

She takes his hand and drags them to the mysterious room. When they got to the entrance, they were thrilled to find that it was an empty arcade. 

"I'm so glad I listened to you."

"When you follow my lead Bowen, you're bound to end up in amazing places."

"I'll never doubt you again oh wise one." 

Nini sees a Mario Kart racing game and beams. "Bet I can kick your ass at Mario Kart."

Ricky laughs tauntingly. "Oh please, have you forgotten my nickname from college?"

"Lanky Ricky?"

"No, not that one. I was referring to the King of the track."

"It's been a second since college, so let's see if you still are worthy of that title."

"Let's go then! I can't wait to wipe the floor with you." 

They were pretty neck and neck the whole time. They had raced for an hour, and Ricky did end up being the victorious one in the end. He dropped the controller and raised his arms in the air at his victory.

"Boom baby, that's how it's done. Take notes Neens, that's how the king conquers."

She rolled her eyes and tried to pretend like she wasn't amused by his sore winner attitude. 

"Oh whatever, it was just pure luck. You only won by like two points, so I wouldn't call it conquering per se."

He mockingly pokes out his bottom lip. "Ah looks like you can't handle loss too well. Better luck next time."

"I can't believe I helped you cook and covered a zit on your face just to be ridiculed."

"I can't believe you suck that much at racing."

"You know what? I'm gonna destroy you in Guitar Hero just to shut your ass up."

"Um you know I'm the one that taught you how to play right? It's basically asking to have your ass handed to you."

"Only person's ass that's getting beaten is yours Bowen."

"Sure are talking about my ass a lot you perv."

Her face becomes as red as a tomato. "Shut up, and put this fake guitar over your head."

He snickers at his affect on her and does what he's told. "I also happen to be the king of Guitar Hero and Rock Band, so don't get all pissy on me when I win."

She cockily looks at him as she places the strap over her head. "You can be the king, but watch the queen conquer."

She chooses "Eye of the Tiger" for them to play. Little did he know, she was exceptionally good at playing this song. Ricky struggled to keep up with her pace. He missed a few too many notes while she didn't miss a beat.

She ended up winning, and she pretended to smash the guitar victoriously.

"Ha! Bow down bitch, the queen has vanquished!"

He smiled and bowed to her. "Alright, alright so _maybe_ I underestimated your abilities."

" _Maybe_ you owe me a proper reward for dethroning you."

" _Maybe_ I saw a churro stand by one of the pools."

" _Maybe_ I'd totally love that."

"Shall we go milady?"

"We shall."

He locks arms with her, and they monkey walk to the churro stand.

***

For dinner that night, they ate on a luxury sailboat at sunset with drinks & gourmet dinner. Ricky and Nini's favorite part about being on the boats was that Madison tended to be more loose with her strict rules and a tiny bit more tolerable. Because of this, they'd try to sit far from the others not wanting to socialize unless they absolutely had to. 

Madison had been drinking a little more than usual, which made her really bubbly and clumsy. The other guests also had been drinking just as much as she has, and Ricky and Nini would be lying if they said they didn't find this amusing.

Nini of course would never forget this moment due to the fact that she literally cannot remember one single moment in her life that she's seen Madison make a genuinely happy smile. 

As the wedding party wined and dined, Madison stumbled in with a karaoke machine. Nini was surprised since Madison would never in a million years be down for karaoke, especially in front of her elite friends. 

She always referred to it as tacky activity and an embarrassment for everyone involved. For a moment she thinks she must be dreaming, but then she feels Ricky rest his hand on her shoulder and she knows she's awake. 

Madison sloppily plugs in the machine, and taps loudly on the mic attached to it. The mic made a pitchy screech that made everyone's ears ring. 

"Whoopsies, didn't mean to do that. I'm so silly! Why was I up here again? Oh yeah that's right. I was just informed by the captain that we have a karaoke machine onboard, and I realized that I've never used one before in my life. So I figured why the hell not? Derek, honey, come up here with me. I know exactly what I wanna sing."

Ricky and Nini giggled amongst themselves as they watched her ramble and stumble on her feet. "You know, I think this is the most human emotion she's shown in the past few days." He whispers.

Madison holds her mic far too close to her lips. "Derek and I will be singing the iconic love duet 'Aint No Mountain High Enough'. Hit it!"

She was singing way too loudly and out of tune while Derek was trying his best to harmonize with her. Nini just knows Marvin Gaye is turning in his grave right now.

The others on the boat cheered her on too intoxicated themselves to even care how off key they were. Nini knows damn well they'd be talking shit if they were sober because oh my god she sounds like a damn banshee. 

A few others go up and sing just as badly. So far, Matt had the best voice, but he was pretty hard to hear due to Brooklyn's screechy voice. Ricky and Nini just enjoyed the shit show from the sidelines.

Madison gazes over at them with a dazed look on her face and motions for them to come to her. "You two have been as quiet as a mouse over there. Come on over here and sing! I know you wannnaaaa."

The pair both grimace at the thought of performing for a group of drunk rich people. "Oh you know what? We're both really tired and our voices are basically gone. It's really not a good idea." Nini lies.

Madison walks over to them with the mic in her hands not realizing she's dragging the machine along with her. "Oh don't act all high and mighty like you're better than any of us. Get over here."

Nini raises her brow. _That's rich coming from you._

Ricky shakes his head. "Nah really we'll just be chilling here."

Madison wasn't backing down anytime soon. "It seems like the pair needs a little encouragement from the crowd." 

The wedding party starts to cheer them on. Ricky and Nini look at each other trying to read the others minds. Ricky shrugs. "I mean why the hell not? It's not like we can't sing." 

She huffs and snatched the mic from Madison's grip. "Fuck it, let's do this." The crowd all clapped as the pair made their way to the front. 

"Uh what song should we do?" Nini asks the crowd.

Brooklyn perks up. "Oo how about Lucky by Colbie Caillat and Jason Mraz? It fits your relationship perfectly." The others all nod in agreement except an agitated Ethan who's silently analyzing the couple. 

"Um yeah sure." Ricky stands close to her as she centers the mic in between them when the song begins. Even though she's performed many times throughout her life, she was still a little jittery in front of this crowd. Ricky holds her hand noticing she was visibly shaking.

When he began singing, everyone went silent. They truly weren't ready for the angelic sound that came out of his mouth. When Nini's part comes on, they're equally as shook. Who would've thought that such a little person could contain so much power in her voice? They stare into each other's eyes when the chorus comes.

_I'm lucky I'm in love with my best friend  
Lucky to have been where I have been  
Lucky to be coming home again..._

Nini steadily approached him unconsciously. She was getting lost in the intensity of his gaze as he sang to her. She felt butterflies form in her as he serenaded her. 

_They don't know how long it takes  
Waiting for a love like this  
Every time we say goodbye  
I wish we had one more kiss  
I'll wait for you I promise you, I will..._

The hand that was holding hers found its way to her cheek stroking it lightly as he looked fixedly into her twinkling eyes. He knows their relationship is fake, but as he sings the lyrics he feels as if he means it. 

_I'm lucky we're in love in every way  
Lucky to have stayed where we have stayed  
Lucky to be coming home someday_

This line she related to the most when it came to the two of them. Though she didn't love him the same way the song was saying, she did adore him. She was fortunate to have remained so close with him after all this time. Being around him felt like coming home.

_Though the breezes through the trees  
Move so pretty you're all I see  
As the world keeps spinning round  
You hold me right here right now..._

He didn't even notice how close they had gotten over the duration of the song until his head is touching hers. Just as the song said, she was indeed all he saw in this moment. The rest of the world seemed to have disappeared when he was so enchanted by her beauty. She was playing with his curls, and he feels like he's on cloud 9.

As they conclude the song, they don't separate or say a word. The only noise they can hear is each other's heavy breaths. For a moment, Ricky swore he saw her move closer to him and take a glance at his lips.

"Wow you guys were amazing!" Madison yells. The others all give them a standing ovation. 

The sudden interruption disrupts their little moment, and they both backed away from each other. Both of their cheeks became rosy, and their hearts were beating at an irregular speed. 

They make their way back to their seats, but they both refuse to meet the others eye. They sat a little farther away than they usually do. There was no denying that there was a minor shift in their relationship tonight. 

They were a little awkward the rest of the night not wanting to address the elephant in the room. Ethan's prying eyes had been watching their every move from the distance smirking to himself.

***

They don’t speak on the walk to their room at all.  
They changed and showered in silence and would avoid being too close to each other. She gets in the bed after him, and they don’t face one another. Ricky heard her sigh.

“Ricky?”

At first, he’s a little thrown she had even spoken at all. But he was happy to hear her voice before he fell asleep.

“Yes?”

“In the morning, we’re back to normal. It was just a little moment. Okay?”

He hesitates before responding because he wasn’t okay with it. He was _far_ from being alright. “Okay.”

“Sweet dreams Ricky.”

“Night Neens.”

Ricky wanted to believe it was just a little moment. He really did, but some part of him was saying otherwise.

They sleep far away from each other that night.

***

The next morning had been a little awkward for the pair. 

Ricky had a bad habit of rolling in his sleep. Sometime during the night, he ended up with one of his arms stretched out over her abdomen. Luckily, he had woken up a little bit before her, so he was able to quickly retract his hand away before she noticed.

They go along with Nini's plan, and neither of them address it and decide to push it aside for now. "Hey Neens, can I have the bathroom first? I need to shower."

She nods without looking at him. He took off his shirt, and she pretended to be busy on her phone as she snuck a few peaks. He silently makes his way to the bathroom closing the door behind him. She dials the group chat for a quick facetime. They all pick up at roughly the same time. 

"Hey Neens! We miss you and Ricky so much!" Ashlyn greets.

"Oo chile please tell me you’re gonna do your hair soon because yikes." Carlos says as he snips his cuticles. Seb nudges him. 

"Hey girl, how have you been? You and Ricky doing well?" Kourtney asks.

Nini sighs and ruffles threw her messy hair. "Yeah he's actually the reason I called."

The others all give her either concerned or intrigued looks. 

"What happened?" Gina asked.

"Well you see, we've been doing a great job convincing people that we were together as you guys expected. The wedding party are all prissy bitches, and Ethan has been a nuisance. No shocker there. But I'll discuss that later; I'm getting off track. Ricky and I had an interesting moment last night..."

The others gasps. Carlos gets close to the camera. "Don't tell me you guys finally hooked up?! Oh my god tell us everything!"

Nini blushes and waves her hands frantically. "No! God no! That's _far_ from it. I'd never!"

The group didn't seem convinced but said nothing. 

"Then what's special about this moment you two shared?" Ashlyn asks.

"We were singing a love song during karaoke last night, and we maybe got a little _too_ into the song. As we sang, we kept progressively getting closer until our heads were touching." Nini closed her eyes and began remembering the intense moment. "And then he caressed my cheek as he sang. I swear it felt like he was singing _to_ me not _with_ me. It all started to feel so real and the gap between our faces was beginning to close before the others interrupted us with their applause. Afterwards, we were so stiff around each other it was almost unbearable. I just told him to sweep the moment under the rug for now." 

The group all gaped at her in awe and incredulity. Gina held up her index. "Pause, are you telling us that you and Ricky almost kissed?!"

Nini nodded and pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "I think I am."

"If the guest didn't interrupt, do you think you would've kissed him?" Ashlyn questions.

Nini shrugs. "I guess we'll never know."

"Be honest Nini, have you ever thought about what it'd be like to kiss him?" Seb queries. 

Nini pondered for a second trying to recollect her thoughts. There definitely were a few times during their relationship where she wondered what his lips would feel like pressed against hers. There was the New Years Eve party of 2015 where she considered kissing him when the apple dropped. And there was that one time she wanted to kiss him when he gave her a new guitar she'd been eyeing for a few months for her 17th birthday.

"I maybe thought of it once or twice."

"Nini, maybe you should consider talking to him about it. I can tell by your face that this is eating you alive." Kourtney suggests. The rest of the group all concur. 

"I don't know. He didn't seem like he really wanted to talk this morning."

"Then talk when you're ready. There's nothing to be afraid of. After all, it's just Ricky he'll hear you out." Gina states.

The bathroom swung open and out came a shirtless Ricky with a towel wrapped around his waist. He made his way over to the dresser and peered over at her phone when he overheard familiar voices. 

"Is that our friends you're on the phone with?" 

She nods and holds up her phone for him. He smiles when he sees all of their faces. "Hey guys, what're you guys gossiping about today? Carlos still ranting about the Gilmore Girls?"

The gang all awkwardly look at each other not really knowing what to say. "Yep, that's exactly what we were talking about. Still can't believe how Rory's character downgraded." Carlos said. Nini let out a breath thankful that Carlos went with it.

“I miss you guys like crazy. Can't wait to cleanse my soul when I escape these toxic rich people."

Nini abruptly twist the phone back to her. "Alright guys I gotta hit the shower, so we'll continue are talk about Ri-, _Rory_ a little later, okay?"

"See you later guys, and good luck!" Seb said as he waved at the pair. Ricky brings his head close to hers so he can get one last look at their friends, and she hates that his presence makes her uneasy inside. 

She ended the call and swiftly rolled off of the bed far from him. She grabbed her clothes for the day and sped walked to the bathroom before he could possibly speak to her.

Nini's communication skills: subpar 

***

As they walked with the rest of the party to the beach for today's diversion, Nini had gotten a text from Kourtney.

_Remember what I said. Talk to him you never know what he might say._

She had reread that message over and over again debating on actually listening to her. 

"Whatchu reading?" He peaks over at her screen. She almost throws her phone on the sand as she briskly places her phone in her dress pocket. 

"Nothing! I was reading...porn?" She cringes at her last minute excuse. 

He chuckles as he looked at her questioningly. He wraps his arm around her pulling her to his chest. "You're such a weirdo."

They finally arrive to the location of the activity, and Ricky's smile reaches his ears when he sees what they'll be doing today. Two UTV's were ready to be driven, and he was dying to get his hands on one of them.

Madison and Derek stood in front of the group. "Today we will be having a competition between all the couples to see who ends up on top starting with UTV racing. Other challenges will follow suit. Whoever wins the most challenges today, will win $100 each. Who wants to race first?"

Ricky shoots his hand in the air in a flash, and Nini is amazed he didn't dislocate his arm in the process. "Alright it seems like Ricky and Nina will be one of the competitors. Who'll compete with them?"

Ethan stepped forward and side eyed Ricky. "We'll go." Ricky scowled at him already pre-annoyed with him. 

Madison claps. "Well this should be interesting. Competitors please get in the vehicles and await my permission to start."

Both couples hop into the vehicles and buckle in. Nini looks at Ricky with an apprehensive face. "Ricky, do you even know how to drive one of these things?" 

Ricky scoffed at her as he placed his shades on. "Oh please sweetheart, I was born knowing how to drive one of these babies." 

She raises her hands in surrender. "Excuse me, I'll just watch the master at play." The sound of the engine being ramped up came from Ethan and Bethany's vehicle. 

Ethan was smirking at them, and Ricky felt his temper rise. He gripped tightly onto the steering wheel and looked straight ahead with an intense gaze. 

Nini notices his sudden ferocity. "Ricky don't get any crazy ideas. I know he gets under your skin, but let's not do anything stupid." His gaze doesn't alter, however he rubs his thumb on her hand soothingly. "Don't worry Neens. I've got this."

Madison came in between both vehicles with two flags. "Racers start your engine." They both make their engines roar while Nini grabbed the "oh shit" handle as she prayed silently in Tagalog to feel a little more secure. 

Madison lifts the flags. "On your mark, get set...GO!"

Ricky and Ethan jam down on the gas pedal and soar threw the sand. Nini yelps when Ricky accidentally rolls over a rock causing the UTV to jump in the air for a millisecond. The guys were neck and neck occasionally getting a little bit ahead of the other by mere centimeters. 

The finish line was hastily approaching them, and it was getting hard to tell who the victor would be. Ethan somehow managed to get further ahead. "Ricky there's no way in hell we're gonna win this, at least not in one piece."

"Imma bout to put this thing into maximum overdrive!" He slams on the pedal until he's beside Ethan again. They cross over the finish line, and a horn goes off.

Both couples jump out of the UTV's. "Who won?" Ricky asked the employee. The employee grabbed Ethan and Bethany's wrist and put them in the air. "We got our winners!"

Ricky groaned while Nini was still trying to recover from that ride from hell. Ethan smugly looked at them, and Ricky formed a fist absentmindedly. "Damn second loss to us in a row. Guess we are the superior couple. Better luck next time." Ethan dragged Bethany behind him as he walked away, and she mouthed "sorry" to them for his behavior.

Nini snaked her hand into his balled up fist. "You tried your best."

"I really want to smack that smug look off his face."

"I'm pretty sure there are plenty of other challenges you can beat them at."

He grumbles the entire way back to the other side of the beach as Nini tried her best to comfort him. She had to bite back the laugh she wanted to let out at how childish he was acting. 

The challenges quickly became a showdown between Ethan and Ricky for the rest of the night. Neither would back down from a challenge if it meant coming off on top. It was to the point where the other pairs didn't even bother trying since they knew that one of them would win.

There were a total of nine challenges, and they were tied 4-4. All he needed to do was win the last competition of the night to end up victorious.

"Alright the last challenge of the night is called who knows their s/o best. We will ask a question, and all of you will write your answer while your s/o will try to guess what you wrote. There are five questions. Whoever wins this gets the prize. The last two couples standing please take your spots, so we can end everyone's misery."

Ricky cracks his neck and knuckles. "I'm ready."

"Oh I'm beyond ready." Ethan snaps back.

"Well I'm ready infinity plus one."

Ethan rolled his eyes. "That's not even a number genius."

"It is now!"

Madison claps loudly to disrupt their petty banter. "Okay! The game is starting now! Girls how about we start with you? Ladies write down whoever your fav artists and rest your board down when you're done." Bethany and Nini quickly scribble their answers. 

"Alright Ethan who do you think is Bethany's favorite artist?"

"Easy, Sam Smith."

Bethany nodded her head and held up her board. "Yes, I'm a Sam Smith stan."

"Ricky, who's Nina's?"

"Simple, Taylor Swift. She'd force me to listen to those albums all the time."

Nini nodded and showed her board. "Yep! Forever a Swiftie at heart!"

"That's one point for both teams." Madison says as she draws a tally. Ricky and Nini high five.

"Next question is for the boys. What is your pet peeve?"

They answered accordingly. "Alright Bethany what is Ethan's pet peeve?"

"He hates dishonesty more than anything." She answers confidently.

Ethan nods happily. "That's right! You know I hate it because dishonesty eventually catches up with you." Ethan gives the other couple a knowing look that Nini admits made her worry.

"Point for Ethan and Bethany. Nina what's your answer?"

"Please this is child's play. He hates it most when I don't tell him when something is bothering me."

Ricky beams. "You got it."

"Another point for you two! Something tells me this is gonna be a close game." Madison updates the scoreboard.

"Back to the guys, what is her favorite memory with you?"

Ricky can't help but smile when he writes his answer.

"Okay Ethan what's your response?"

"The first time I asked her out."

Bethany nodded and high fived him. "Yeah that was so sweet how you asked."

"What do you say Ricky?"

"It was definitely when we wrote a song together for a project in theater in senior year. You were so stressed it was gonna be bad, but we got a standing ovation. That's the day you found out you wanted to write music as a profession."

Nini looked at him endearingly. "I can't believe you remember that."

"Of course I remember that. It was an important moment for you, which makes it important for me."

The women in the crowd awed while Ethan swore under his breath.

"Both teams get another point. Now ladies, what do you think is your beau's favorite meal on earth?" 

Nini chuckles as she writes her ridiculous reply.

"Bethany, what do you got?"

"He loves a simple hamburger and fries with a soda. Nothing special at all."

Ricky snickers. "You can say that last part again." Ethan glared at him while Nini hid her smile behind her board.

Ethan decides not to bark back. "Yeah she's right."

"Great, and Nini what did you write?"

Nini showed her board. It said Foodmageddon, which made no sense to the other's but made Ricky laugh. 

"Ricky's favorite meal is definitely a mouthful to say because it's very unique and so looney that only he could come up with such a thing. I actually nicknamed it Foodmageddon. He likes a strawberry milkshake with the striped straws because according to him it doesn't taste the same without it. He always has two plates of fries, one to eat by itself and other strictly for dipping in the milkshake. He orders three hot dogs: one to eat by itself, one for later, and one for me because I'll just take a bite of his anyways."

Ricky slow clapped. "I knew you'd get it."

"How could I not? That monstrosity of a meal is so wacky I could never forget it. Besides, you've ordered it countless times since we were in elementary school."

The others looked in astonishment at what they heard. "Well alrighty then we're at a tie, it seems we are at our last question of the night which determines who wins. Back to the gentlemen, for the winning question, what is one thing you know about her that most people don't?"

The men scribble their responses and place their boards down. "Okay Ethan what is your final answer for the night?"

He holds his board up confidently. "Piece of cake, Bethany is ambidextrous."

Bethany shakes her head and shows him her answer. "Sorry that's actually something a lot of people knew about me. I put down that I have an irrational fear of birds." 

Ricky smirked when he saw Ethan's face fall. 

"Oo if you get this right Ricky, you'd win." Madison says.

"Nini taps her heels together like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz when she feels giddy, which is the cutest damn thing I've ever seen."

Her face lights up and she pounces on him. "You did it!" The other's applauded except Ethan who was moping behind his girlfriend.

"Congrats to you two; you're the best couple...well besides Derek and I of course. Here's the money you were promised." Madison rest the bills in their hands.

The pair eyed their prize not even able to recall the last time they even saw a $100 bill. "What're you gonna buy with yours Ricky?" 

"What any other sane person would do...buy 100 chicken nuggets duh Nina." 

"This isn't a fair win. Those two have known each other since they were 5. Of course they're gonna know more about each other." Ethan pointed an accusing finger at them.

Madison shrugged. "I don't know what to tell you. They won fair and square."

Ethan scoffed. "This is ridiculous."

"I guess you weren't the best couple after all. Better luck next time." Ricky mocked.

Nini could sense they were about to get into it, and didn't feel like being around it. She released herself from Ricky and walked next to Brooklyn who was drinking a mimosa by her sleeping boyfriend. 

"Classic Ethan, he could never accept losing." Brooklyn says with a slur in her tone.

Nini raised her brow. "Oh you knew Ethan before this week?"

Brooklyn’s face scrunched up in disgust. "Yes, Derek introduced us a while back. I wouldn't say we're buddies per se, but I know enough about him to know he's whiny."

Nini giggled. "I definitely can't argue with that." They watched as Ricky and Ethan were debating whether or not the win was fair, and Madison looked as if she might stab the both of them. Brooklyn looked awkwardly at her boyfriend throwing a tantrum. 

"She knows you two are exes you know."

Nini was taken aback by her random comment. "What?"

"Bethany, she knows you two used to be together. She doesn't know how you guys split though. You know with the whole runaway groom stunt he pulled. I asked her a few nights ago when she was alone. Still can't believe he did that. Fucking asshole couldn't even commit to the perfect woman standing right in front of him." Brooklyn took more sips of her drink.

Nini scrunched her nose at the memory of that fateful day. Brooklyn must be one of those blunt drunks. "Yeah well I don't particularly enjoy talking about it."

Brooklyn looks at her confused for a second before realizing her mistake. She puts her hand on top of Nini's. "Oh god I'm sorry! That's so insensitive of me. God mimosas always make me such a candid potty mouthed bitch."

"It's fine. Actually do you have anymore mimosas? I could use one after the shit Ricky put me through today."

"Men I swear, and yeah of course I have plenty to spare." Brooklyn poured her a glass and hands it to her. They saw Ethan raise his voice more at a very distressed Madison.

"Actually we'll need a little more for this. Looks like we’ll be here a while.”

***

Hours later, dinner was served at an outside theater for a movie under the stars. To Ricky and Nini's surprise, Madison was a fan of horrors and thrillers and decided on watching the Child's Play films in order until they were all tired. 

Each couple had their own palette on the ground laid out for them. Nini was tucked under the blanket she was sharing with Ricky ducking any time something mildly scary happened. She had never been a fan of possessed dolls.

A scene where Chucky slays his arch nemesis causes Nini to jump and she placed her head in the crook of Ricky’s neck. He smiled slightly amused at her timidness. “Neens, it’s just a movie don’t get too worked up about it.”

“You know I hate creepy dolls! I’m just gonna stay here for the rest of the movie.” 

He chuckled and tightened his grip on her. “Fine by me.”

All of a sudden, Ricky felt as if he were being watched which is the last feeling you’d want while watching a horror film. His suspicions had been correct when he caught Ethan glaring at them with disdainful eyes. He must’ve still been mad about losing today.

Ethan doesn’t quit looking into Ricky’s eyes as he pulls Bethany closer to him to kiss her temple. Ricky rolled his eyes. This dude always had to compete with him somehow. He ducked down and gave Nini a kiss on the cheek. Ethan retaliated by kissing along Bethany’s jawline all the way to her ear. 

Ricky hesitated before he made his next move. He wasn’t exactly sure how Nini would react to him doing something so affectionate especially considering what happened last night. 

He really can’t stand that damn cocky smile on Ethan’s face. Plus, he could end up being more suspicious of them being a legit couple if he didn’t kiss her. He steadily lifts her head so he can gaze into her eyes.

“Do you trust me?”

She rose a brow. “Of course I do.”

He grazed her cheek and bent his head down to her neck. “Good.” His lips met her neck and she let out a breathy sigh at the sudden contact. She closed her eyes.

“Ricky what’re you doing?”

He continued to kiss and suck along her neck. “Ethan’s watching.” Nini opened one of her eyes to see Ethan glowering at them understanding Ricky’s motion now. She silently moaned when he bit lightly.

She leaned her head back further so that he could have more access to her neck. She brought his head closer to her. He positioned her so that she was sitting on his lap. His thumbs were pressed deep into her upper thigh as her arms were wrapped around his back.

He gets so distracted by her quiet moans that he forgets that his original objective was to piss off Ethan. He made a few more marks along her neck before finally releasing his lips. They don’t change their position as they stare into each other’s eyes.

She looked dazed, her cheeks were rosy, and she was breathing heavily. He smirked secretly liking he could get this reaction from her. “I uh...think you won.” She says breathlessly. He looks over at Ethan who was red with anger as he watched them. 

“I guess I did.” He looks back at her neck. “I may have gotten a little carried away.” He giggles as he rubs the fresh marks that would definitely be red in the morning.

“It’s fine.” She hops off of his lap and cuddles against him. “Let’s just watch the movie.” She brought her attention back to the screen trying to not think about how much she enjoyed his lips on her.

***

After dinner, they all return to their rooms to rest.  
Ricky had been searching their room for his room key and realized he had left it on the counter by accident.

“Hey Neens I’m gonna get my room key. I’ll be back in a second.”

As the elevator doors were closing, a hand had stopped it. Ethan stumbles in with an exasperated expression. Ricky could smell a little alcohol in his breath.

“Bowen...” He says lowly.

“Can I help you?”

Ethan makes a hollow laugh as he presses the close door button. Suddenly, he pushed Ricky onto the wall and grabs his shirt to pull him down to his eye level.

“Back the hell off, and we won’t have a problem.”

“I have no idea what the hell you’re talking about.”

“Don’t play dumb. You know _exactly_ what I’m referring to. And also I’m onto you two. There’s something off about your little relationship, and I’m going to find out.”

He presses the open door button and gives him a fleeting scowl as he exits. Ricky had stood still against the wall stunned by his threat. He felt his heart beat intensify. They might be completely screwed.

“Fuck.”


	4. La Vie En Rose

That Sunday was the day before the week of the big day and wedding related events launched. Madison ruled it a rest day where they can do whatever they please all day as long as they were well rested for Monday's events.

"I'm so happy we can have a whole day to ourselves for once. What do you want to do first? I heard some of the local malls are pretty cool."

Ricky had been blankly eyeing the ceiling laying on their bed so lost in thought that he didn't hear her. She shakes him bringing him out of his day dream. "Shit, sorry Neens what'd you say?"

"You okay? You've been kinda spacey and jumpy since you went to go get your room key last night. Did something happen?"

For a minute, he thought about saying something to her. He really wanted to tell her that Ethan had been cynical about their relationship, but he decided against it. In reality, it was basically impossible for him to prove that they weren't together. Besides, today was supposed to be their day of rest, and bringing up the topic of Ethan would only bring unwanted stress throughout the day.

"Oh it's nothing. I'm still just a little tired from last night." He started fiddling with her fingers. "What do you wanna do today?"

If she was skeptical of his answer, she doesn't show it. "Well I was saying we should check out the mall and improvise the rest. Just let our feet take us wherever feels right."

He smiles and kisses the back of her hand. "Sounds good to me."

Ever since they'd arrived to Mexico, they had been a lot more affectionate with each other. Sometimes they'd just kiss one another's cheek as a way of saying good morning. Other times they'd cuddle on cooler nights to feel warm. It became their new norm.

"I'm just excited because we don't have to deal with bitchy bridesmaids or douchy groomsmen, and I'm especially happy about no Ethan."

He crawls over to her side and brought her into a hug laying his head in her neck. She gets a flashback of his mouth on her neck and quickly stops herself from pondering on it. That also was a reminder to put on foundation to cover his marks. 

"And I can spend the day with my favorite girl."

She light heartedly slapped his chest and formed a crooked smile. "We need to get out of bed in order to do that."

He grumbles into her neck and forms circles on her hip. "Just five more minutes. I didn't get a lot of sleep."

She detaches herself from him despite his protests. "No, we have a whole day of adventures ahead of us in a country we'll probably never come back to because we can't afford it. Get your ass up."

When he still doesn't budge, she slaps his body with a pillow a few times. He dodged the pillow from hitting him and rolled off the bed. "Alright, alright I'm up geez. You're so bossy."

"That's what I thought." As she sashayed to the bathroom in just an over sized t-shirt and undies, he couldn't help but enjoy the view.

***

When they finally got dressed for the day, they had chosen to walk to the mall since it was only a few miles away. Nini had led them to a few random stores that she found interesting. 

Any clothing store that they'd enter, Ricky would always try to wear as many accessories as possible knowing he looked ridiculous just to make her laugh.

Nini had always been a sucker for useless souvenirs, and Ricky wasn't any better. She probably bought at least twelve pieces of jewelry and a pair of shoes while Ricky had gotten some materials for his skateboard and a hoodie. They just hoped that the U.S. Embassy would let them bring this stuff over the border.

When they got hungry, they ate at a restaurant in the mall. When they were seated, a waiter immediately greeted them. "Hi welcome in. Where are you guys coming from?"

"Salt Lake City." Nini answers.

"Oh wow a long way from home. What brings you all the way down to Cabo San Lucas?"

"We're here for a wedding." Ricky answers.

The waiter perked up. "Oh congratulations on your marriage! Hopefully you're enjoying your stay here, and that the experience has been out of this world so far."

Ricky and Nini look at each other and debate on correcting him, but decide to just go with it. 

"Yep, in a few days I'll get to see her walk down the aisle. Can't wait to call her Mrs. Bowen."

Nini faintly blushed at the thought of being married to him. 

"Well you both can have free tequila shots as my treat."

"Awe thank you, how sweet."

"No problem! I'll go get them while you look over the menus."

When he leaves, Nini grimaces. "I feel kinda bad for lying, but at the same time he looked so happy for us that I'd hate to wipe the smile off of his face."

"Yeah me too. We'll just give him a hefty tip when we leave."

The waiter comes back with promised shots and a bowl of fresh nachos. "Careful with the dipping sauces they're very spicy."

Nini waves him off. "Nothing I can't handle."

"I don't know Neens; I can kinda smell the spices from here."

"Mama didn't raise no bitch."

"Alright but if you start choking, I'm just gonna laugh at you."

She dipped a nacho in the sauce and took a bite. At first, she didn't think it was that bad. That is until the spice hit her a few seconds later. She began gagging and coughing. She downed the shot she was given, but it only made it worse.

Luckily, he had left over horchata from a café they went to earlier. She snatched his cup and drank until the sting in her mouth disappeared. Ricky had been laughing at her the whole time.

"I tried to tell you."

She made a mocking face and threw a chip at his face. "Shut up."

After they're done with their meal, they gave the waiter a generous tip and he left a nice note on their receipt. On their way out of the mall, Ricky spots a flower stand. 

"Hello young man, would you like to buy some flowers or flower souvenirs for your lovely lady over there?"

Ricky turns to look at Nini and noticed she wasn't by his side. He saw her standing in front of a street musician cheering him on. He felt his heart warm at the sight of her smiling so brightly. He reached in his pocket to pull out his wallet.

"You know what? Sure, do you have anything she could wear that'd suit her well?"

The man scanned her outfit and smiled. "I've got just the thing." He whips out a flower crown with white daisies. Ricky nodded and took the halo. "I'll take it." 

"You seem like a nice couple. I'll give you free white rose too."

"Thanks man, have a great day."

Ricky walked over to her and tapped her shoulder. When she looked at him, she beamed when she saw he had a flower halo. "Are those for me?"

He nods as she hands the crown and rose to her. "Yeah I know how much you adore flower crowns. Plus, I think it'll suit your outfit for the wedding."

She jumps up to give him a hug and kisses his cheek. "I love it. Thank you so much." She gives him another peck, but she kisses a little too closely to corner of his lip. His heart skipped a beat at the notion, but she didn't even seem fazed.

She placed the halo over her head and posed with the rose in her hands. "How does it look?"

"I didn't think it was even possible for you to look even more beautiful, and yet you've proven me wrong."

She blushes and shoves his arm playfully. "You're so cheesy."

He wraps his arm around her to plant a kiss on her cheek. "Only around you."

***

As they were walking near a lawn in a plaza, Ricky had failed to realize that he was close to the sprinklers. The water had shot at him soaking his shirt in the process.

"Ah what the fuck?!"

Nini had cackled at his reaction. "Ha! That's what you get for laughing at me more choking on the chip earlier. How does it feel?"

"Keep making fun of me and see what happens." 

"Oo I'm so scared."

He opens his arms out for her and leisurely walks up to her. When she picks up what he's doing, her smile drops. "Stay back."

He shakes his head as a vindictive smile creeped onto his lips. "Come gimme a hug Neens."

She steadily walked backwards. "Ricky, I swear to god I'll beat your ass if you hug me."

"What's wrong McFly? Chicken?"

She turned around and began running away from him, and he chased after her. He ran after her in the grass area until he was able to corner her by a tree. He picked her up from behind and spun her around.

"Ricky! Oh my god I hate you!" Though her words said one thing, she was gleefully laughing as he spun them around. All of a sudden, the sprinklers turned on and sprayed them. They both yelled at the abrupt sensation.

He put her down and spun her around to face him placing his hands on her waist. "Dammit, I'm soaked because of you." She tried her best to appear upset at him, but her guise didn't hold up when she looked at his face.

"Well you shouldn't have made fun of me."

She rolls her eyes and releases herself from his firm grip. "Now we have to go back to the hotel to change."

"You gotta admit it was pretty fun though."

"I will not admit such a thing, and you can't make me."

"Fine." He picks her up and purposely sets her in front of one of the sprinklers. She squirmed and screamed as she got even more drenched. 

"Ricky, I'm gonna kill you!"

He let out a menacing laugh as he sprinted as far away from her as possible. "Get back here you dick!"

***

After they change into dry clothes, Ricky decided it was a good time to practice some tricks on his skateboard which Nini wouldn't have minded if it were outside instead of their hotel room. He jumps over one of the pillows make a loud thump when he hits the floor. 

"Ricky don't you think this isn't the best place to be skateboarding? You could fuck up the floor or worse break something. We both know that neither of us can afford to replace anything in this room. Not to mention that Madison would probably have us burned at a stake."

"I'm a professional skater Neens. I'm pretty sure I can manage to not break anything. Besides, I do this in my apartment all the time and in my dad's house. And I've only broken one vase in my ten years of skating."

"Was that supposed to make me feel better?"

"Yes, yes it was."

"Well it didn't. Can you do that somewhere else? It's disrupting my train of thought."

"Okay fine, I'll do it somewhere else." He picks up his board and gives her mischievous grin as he exits the room. Something tells her that he was up to no good. Her instincts had been correct when she heard the sound of him rolling in the hotel halls.

She hopped up from her spot to go stop him before he got in trouble. "Ricky, what the hell?!"

"Hey, you're the one who said to do it somewhere else. I'm just following orders."

He skates around a man on his phone who looked at him confused. Nini mouthed a quick sorry to the stranger and followed after him. 

"Dammit Ricky I meant go outside to skate."

"Ah come on Neens, you gotta live life on the edge sometimes."

"Don't you dare go any further."

He smirks as he presses the elevator button. He speedily gets on the elevator before she can stop him and smashes the close door button. When she got in front of the closing doors, she saw him make a wicked smirk at her threw the crack of the doors before shutting. 

"Shit."

She books it to the staircase almost tripping on the extravagant rugs in the process. She jotted down the many flights of stairs so quickly that she appeared to be flying.

By the time she makes it to the bottom, she's out of breath. She sees the elevator doors open and out came Ricky on his board. He sees her in the corner of his eye and waves innocently as if he wasn't being a little shit.

"Ricky, come here." She whisper yelled. He held his hand to his ear pretending he couldn't hear her. He skated down the hall near the café passing by baffled guests and employees. She power walked over to him not wanting to draw anymore attention to him. 

When he was finally in her sight, she saw him doing flips on his board. She sped walked over to him while he wasn't paying attention. She jumped on him tackling him to the ground. He grunts when his body hits the floor.

"Ow Neens, where the hell did you learn to tackle like that?"

She punches his arm. "You could've gotten us in trouble! You're lucky no one important saw you." 

"Don't be such a wet blanket."

She points a scolding finger at him. "Don't you start wi-

He covers her mouth mid sentence. He swiftly gets up pulling her with him and hides them behind one of the fake trees in the hallway.

"Ricky what's going on?" He shushes her and points down the hall.

Ethan and Bethany were walking down the hall arguing loudly. Ethan was red with anger while Bethany had an irate yet melancholic expression.

"I don't get why you're so invested in this Ethan. It just doesn't seem like it's any of your business!"

"For the last time, I told you why I have to do this. They're hiding something. I can just feel it in my bones. Their mannerisms seem so staged, and the way Ricky was acting yesterday also didn't rub me the right way."

"So what if they're faking it! It doesn't concern either of us if they decided to pretend to be a couple. Can we please stop talking about them?"

"No I'm sorry babe, but I just can't let this go."

"Ethan can you just be honest with me?"

"Yeah of course."

"Do you still love her?"

Ethan was taken aback by her question. "What?! Of course not! I love you."

"Then why do you want to prove them wrong so much? We can’t even have a full conversation without you bringing up one of them!"

He was silent for a while trying to come up with a good enough excuse for her, but it was hard to explain without it coming out wrong.

She let out a sigh as she ruffled threw her hair. "When you're done obsessing over them, I'll be by the pool enjoying our free day. Have fun snooping by yourself." She turned on her heel and left him speechless in the hallway.

He groaned frustratingly and kicked Ricky's skateboard not realizing it was his. He eventually left the hallway to god knows where. The pair came out from hiding and looked at each other concerned. 

"What the hell was that all about? And did he really have to kick my board?"

"I don't know, but something tells me that he's been watching our every move since we got here. Also, poor Bethany she deserves so much more."

"Yeah I don't get why she's with that asshole either."

"Should we be worried about him?"

"I'm not that worried to be honest. There's not enough evidence of us being a fake couple. Not even on social media."

She didn't feel completely at ease, but she didn't want to worry Ricky or dwell on Ethan any longer. "Yeah, you're right."

"Let's get back to our room. I'm suddenly craving one of those complimentary champagnes."

"I'm definitely in need for an overpriced drink."

"Hey is this the way you said that skating guy went?" They overhear one of the security guards ask an employee. 

"That's our queue to go!" Ricky grabs Nini's hand and runs to the closest staircase.

"I told you you'd get caught."

He stuck his tongue at her as they ran, and she did the same.

***

After they ate supper in their hotel rooms, they decided to check out a hidden beach called Playa Del Amor because they heard the scenery was out of this world, and it had a private environment. 

The moment they arrived to the island, their minds were blown. The beach had resembled a cave and there were very few people present compared to other beaches. The only people they could see was a get together of what seemed like someone’s birthday party being celebrated under one of the pavilions and the employees serving them.

Nini and Ricky had set up near the water to enjoy the view, and they couldn’t help but occasionally look at the festive group dancing to energetic music.

She rest her head on his shoulder as she admired the crystal blue sea. “This has probably been my favorite day so far.” 

He nodded and rubbed his hand on her arm. “Yeah it’s definitely been eventful. It only seems right to end the day with a calm setting.”

“Totally agree, but you know what would make this moment even better?”

He grinned already knowing what she was going to say. “Let me guess, strawberry daiquiris?”

“It’s almost freakish how well you know me.”

“Yeah well that’s bound to happen when you hang out with someone for more than half of your life.”

“Would you be a doll and go get us some? I’m too comfortable to move.” She gives him her signature puppy dog eyes, and he can’t help but fall for it.

“You’re lucky I’m basically incapable of saying no to you.” 

“Thank you!” She gives him a brief cheek kiss before he heads for the booth.

When he gets to the booth, the man greets him with a friendly smile. “Hola, what can I get you?”

“Just two strawberry daiquiris please.”

“Coming right up!”

The sound of the party cheering and singing along loudly to the lyrics erupted catching both the bartender and Ricky’s attention.

“That’s one hell of a birthday party.”

“Birthday party? No sir, that’s a wedding anniversary. Rarely anybody comes to the Playa Del Amor for a birthday party.”

Ricky rose a brow. “Why’s that? Is there something special about this beach?”

“Playa Del Amor means Lover’s Beach. A lot of couples like to come here because it’s intimate and it has a very natural romantic environment. Isn’t that why you brought your beautiful girlfriend?”

Ricky gaped at the man. He had no idea about the background of this beach. “I uh didn’t know that actually.”

“Well, you accidentally ended up in the right place to be alone with your loved one.” He hands him the drinks. “Enjoy.” Ricky nods as a thanks as he made his way back to Nini.

She perked up when she saw the drink.“Oo these look delicious! Thanks again.” She gave him another kiss on the cheek before slurping on her drink. His cheeks slowly begin to redden.

He was debating on telling her what this beach was intended for, but knowing her she’d just get really awkward about it so he decided to keep his mouth shut. 

The lively music transitioned to a smooth jazz song, and all the guest began to slow dance to it. Nini lit up when she recognized the melody. 

“Oh my god, I adore La Vie En Rose! One of my fav classic romantic songs. My moms used to dance to this in the living room when it came on.” 

She closed her eyes to picture them swaying to the music in her head, and she began mimicking it. Ricky’s heart glowed at the cute sight of her. He stood up and offered his hand to her.

“May I have this dance Mademoiselle?”

She beams and happily takes his hand. “Oui, oui.”

She wraps her arms around his neck, and he places his hands on her waist. As they swayed to the music, Nini softly sang along.

_Hold me close and hold me fast  
The magic spell you cast  
This is la vie en rose_

He wraps his arms fully around her frame while she played with the end of his curls.

_When you kiss me heaven sighs  
And though I close my eyes  
I see la vie en rose_

He’s gazing into her eyes, and it suddenly feels like they’re back on that boat again singing to each other. 

_When you press me to your heart  
I'm in a world apart  
A world where roses bloom_

She presses her full body on his letting her head rest on his heart as she continued to sing. He naturally leans his head on top of hers fully engulfing her. 

_And when you speak  
Angels sing from above  
Everyday words seems  
To turn into love song_

Ricky felt a foreign feeling in his heart as he cradled the girl he adored the most in his arms. He has never felt this emotion before; it was so unique that he couldn’t even guess what it could be.

_Give your heart and soul to me  
And life will always be la vie en rose_

As the song ended, she turned her chin up to look at him while they resumed swaying. She traced her fingers along his cheek. His heart did a somersault at how heavenly she looked. He doesn’t think any woman could measure up to her radiance and raw beauty.

And for the first time in his life, he considered that maybe his feelings for her weren’t as platonic as he thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song is La Vie en Rose Louis Armstrong edition. This is kinda like a filler, but there are a few important parts. Unfortunately, Ethan scenes are always vital. Hope you liked this fluff fest!


	5. I Wanna Dance With Somebody

Ricky wakes up to the sun beaming its rays of light on his face and a sticky note attached to his forehead. He quickly realized the lack of presence of his best friend and frowned.

Nowadays, he actually looked forward to seeing her resting on his chest. He slowly removes the note from his head and reads it.

_Went to go get some food before dance class. Don't worry I'll bring you some too. Should be back in ten. Love ya! -Nini_

He found himself smiling when she said she loved him even though he knew she meant it in a friendly way. After they danced last night, he had felt different about her.

He assumed it was probably the atmosphere of the beach and romantic music that had contributed to his weird feelings, but he thought that those feelings would wear off by now.

He didn't know what to do with this alien feeling, so he decided to ask the one person that might. He rang up Big Red to facetime.

"Hey man, it's been way too long. I can't even recall a time where we went this long without talking." Big Red says.

"Yeah it has been a second. Sorry I haven't been reaching out. I've been very occupied with everyone."

"Yeah tell me everything man. I can only imagine the shit you've had to tolerate."

"To sum everything up, the wedding party are starchy and gossipy, the bride has the same chaotic evil energy as Hades, Ethan is a jackass, oh I may like Nini by the way, everything is hella expensive for no reason, and don't even get me start-

Big Red waves his hands. "Woah woah woah, back up. What did you just say?!"

"Ethan is a jackass?"

"After that."

"Everything is hella expensive?"

"No, before that."

"The bride is Hades?"

"Dammit Ricky, stop beating around the bush! I heard you say you might like Nini. Is it true?"

Ricky sighed in defeat. "Okay yeah, I might have a little thing for her, but it's probably nothing. Maybe our temporary façade is getting to my head or something."

"Why do you say that? Did something happen?"

"Well there were a few moments during our first week here that have definitely made me feel some kind of way towards her. Like yesterday, I spent the entire day with just her going to random places we thought we'd like. It felt so nice to see her so happy and full of life all day after dealing with the stress of her toxic ex and the stuck up wedding guests for a week. But the moment where I started to feel something was different was when we were on this beach called Lover's Beach. We were dancing to this romantic song, and when I looked her in the eyes I wanted to hold her in my arms forever. I don't know man. It's so weird. I've never felt this way before."

Big Red couldn't help but smile knowingly. "Ricky, that sounds a lot like love."

Ricky's face began to burn. "I wouldn't go that far. I don't even know what love feels like."

"Then how can you say you're not feeling it now?"

Ricky hadn't thought of that, and he wasn't sure if he wanted to. "Do you feel like that around Ashlyn?"

Red nodded and began blushing at the thought of his girlfriend who was soon to be his fiancé. "Yeah I always want to hold her no matter what my mood is. She just naturally lights up my day. I love her so much, and it's hard to imagine life without her. You know what I mean?"

Ricky had thought about what he had listed and was shocked when he actually _did_ know what he meant just not in the same context.

She always made him ten times happier despite his mood, and she was his favorite person in the entire world. But he was pretty sure that's how all people felt about their best friends. It didn't mean he loved her.

"I'm not sure man. I don't know what to do with these silly feelings. I'm pretty confident it's just a minor makeshift crush."

"I think that you should do what feels right. If you end up still having feelings after a few days, you should tell her. She might feel the same. If those feelings go away, then you can blame it on the romantic environment and move on with your life."

"Thanks dude, that's actually pretty good advice."

"No sweat. If you have any more Nini problems, I'm more than happy to assist."

The front door of his suite began to open and Ricky felt his heartbeat quicken. "Hey Nini's back, I'll talk to you later." Red said a brief goodbye before they hung up.

Nini walked in with a to go bag and two cups of coffee and set them on the table. "Hey sleepyhead, I didn't expect you to be up this early." She crawled over to his side of the bed to give him a kiss on the cheek.

His heart was beating so hard he could hear it. He can't believe she was getting such a reaction from him with a small gesture. "I guess waking up early for the past week has changed my sleep schedule."

"Yeah but you usually go back to sleep when you wake up too early."

He pulls her body to his until their faces are practically centimeters away. "How could I go back to sleep peacefully without you in my arms?" She blushes and tries to ignore the butterflies accumulating in her.

"Come and eat your food before it gets cold you flirt. You're gonna need the energy for dancing." When she released herself from him, he instantly felt empty. He walked over to the kitchen where she was preparing her bagel and wrapped his arms around her from behind wanting to desperately feel her warmth again.

She reached behind her to feed him a strawberry. He started rock them side to side allowing himself to fantasize about what it'd be like to wake up to this on a normal basis. He can see them preparing meals as they danced in the kitchen listening to their playlist on a beautiful Sunday morning.

"What're you thinking about?" She asks disturbing his fantasy. He holds her more firmly and presses a kiss on her temple.

"Nothing just day dreaming."

He swears it's just a crush.

***

"I'm going to bust my ass and possibly sprain my ankle. I just know it."

Ricky chuckled and held her hand. "Neens, you've done so many numbers for theater throughout high school and college. I mean once you do the choreo for Hairspray everything else seems like a breeze. I'm pretty sure you can handle an hour long ballroom dance class."

"Yeah but it's been a second since I've been in a musical. I'm probably a little rusty."

"You'll be fine. If anyone should be worried about getting injured, it should be me."

"I've seen you dance Ricky. You need to give yourself more credit."

The instructor struts in clapping her hands obnoxiously to signal her presence. "Bonjour, buenos días, guten morgen, good morning to you all in every language! My name is Jenn Jennifer, but you can call me Ms. Jenn. This is my partner Mazzara and we'll be your dancing instructors. Today we will start with the iconic waltz, so find your partner and we'll take it from there."

The wedding party all dispersed to opposite sides of the room getting in position for the dance while Ms. Jenn cued the music. "Okay men, take your partner in your arms with your right hand on her waist and your left hand in her right hand. Her left hand should be on your right shoulder."

They all complied. "Listen to the music for a couple of moments and get the 1-2-3 beat in your mind. Really feel it in your soul. Let the music be your guide. The beat is your baby and you're the parents trying to nurture it. Watch as me and my partner demonstrate."

Ricky ducked his head down to her ear. "She's a little too into it; don't you think?"

Nini looked over at Ms. Jenn to see her dramatically being dipped and spinning in circles, which Nini is pretty sure wasn't even a part of the waltz.

"Yeah, she definitely is."

As they swayed side to side trying to get used to the rhythm, Nini and Ricky were having a hard time at first due to the dramatic height difference. After Ricky stepped on her foot for the fifth time, Nini pulled back for a second.

"Okay clearly this isn't working; why don't we just do what feels natural instead of following the rules? We seem to work better that way."

"Worth a shot."

Nini wrapped her arms around his neck, and he brought her completely to his chest. They marched to the beat of their own drum letting their feet do the talking. The others watched a little confused, but Ms. Jenn actually liked their uniqueness and let them continue.

He spun her around a few times and brought her back to him. He brought her leg up to his hip resulting in their faces being inches apart. He dips her, and their eyes meet and it's like they're at karaoke all over again. His eyes lowered down to her lips, and he wondered what it'd be like to smash his lips on hers.

Ms. Jenn clapped loudly ruining their moment. "Alright, it seems everyone's got the hang of it. Why don't we switch partners? Everybody trade with the person to your left."

Ricky stands them up straight and hates the idea of dancing with somebody else. No one would have nearly as much chemistry with him. Nini feels a tap on her shoulder and tenses when she sees it's Ethan holding a hand out for her.

"I believe you're my dance partner."

She huffs. "Ugh, you've gotta be kidding me."

"When have I ever kidded around?" He had never been a fan of joking around.

She grunts as she takes his hand. "Let's just get this over with."

Ricky eyed him down as he took her away from him. He was so focused on them that he didn't notice the girl in front of him. She cleared her throat to get his attention.

"I believe you're my partner."

"Oh sorry Bethany. I was just a little distracted."

"It's fine."

"Everyone begin!" Ms. Jenn directed. Ricky took her hand and started swaying.

"You and Nini make a wonderful couple. Your chemistry is untouchable. I don't think I've even seen a couple so in sync with each other." She looks around and leans in closer. "Not even Madison and Derek are as ideal as you two." She whispers.

He giggles quietly. "Thank you, we just have always suited each other well."

"Yeah I can tell."

A comfortable silence comes over them, and Ricky eagerly wanted to ask her the question he had in the back of his mind since he got here.

"Can I ask you something? Feel free to not answer if it makes you uncomfortable."

"Yeah go ahead."

"Why're you with Ethan? He's kinda the worst, and I've witnessed the way he speaks to you sometimes."

She gets a dead look in her eyes, and he immediately regrets asking. "I love Ethan; I really do. He was there for me when I was at a weak point in my life, which is why I'm devoted to him. I could understand why you'd be skeptical though. He does say some things that're a little harsh, but he means well."

Ricky nods still trying to understand what she saw in him, but I guess she had seen something in Ethan that he could never see in a million years.

"If he makes you happy, I guess I have no right to criticize. However I have known Ethan a little longer than you and have seen him do some despicable things. I advise you watch out for him."

She grins. "I'll keep that in mind."

While those two were having a nice convo, Nini and Ethan were struggling to even look at each other. Nini had "accidentally" stepped on his toes for the second time already.

"Ow Nini, you got my big toe again." He winces.

She shrugs nonchalantly. "My bad." She does it again, and he whimpers.

"You know, I'm starting to think you're doing this on purpose."

"Whatever could make you think I'd do such a thing?" She says sarcastically.

He sighs and tries to appear sympathetic. "Nini, can we just talk about it? I feel like I need to explain myself."

"Finally, something we agree on."

"I got cold feet because I didn't feel like I deserved you. I had done something unforgivable and knew it'd be wrong to marry you when you were so good to me."

Nini was having none of this. "Ethan there are not enough excuses in the world to justify what you did to me. I mean if you didn't want to marry me, you could've pulled me aside before I already walked down the aisle. Do you know how embarrassing it was for me to cancel all the reservations and tell people to go home? I had to sell my ring to a pawn shop and return the dress that I had spent months tailoring to perfection. I gave out all the food to the guest since I didn't know what else to do with it, and I still had two months of food leftover. And don't even get me started on all of the sympathetic looks and hugs I got. I'm still not over how mortifying and traumatizing that was."

She felt herself getting choked up and a single tear rolled down her cheek. Ethan looked regretful as he watched her pour her heart out. He rest his hand on her upper arm.

"Nini, I'm so sorry I put you through all that pain. I think about that day all the time and cringe when I realize how stupid I was. I can't even imagine what that was like."

She humorlessly laughed and slapped his hand away. "Yeah exactly. You'll _never_ know what it's like."

"Nini, please..."

She wiped a few of her tears away. "No, I'm done listening."

Nini wanted to be anywhere but here. She can't stand being in the same room as him right now. She swiftly leaves the ballroom before anyone could ask where she was going.

She went to an empty corner near the entrance to let out her tears. She hears the sound of someone running towards her.

"Nini?"

She looks to see Ricky looking around the hall for her. She waves her hand in front of him. "I'm here."

When he sees her, he runs to her side and pulls her into a hug. "What happened in there?"

She sniffled as she calmed down a little in his arms. "Ethan was trying to talk about our wedding, and I just couldn't stomach it; it was too much. I didn't want to hear his dumb excuses. I needed to leave."

He soothingly rubbed his hands on her back as he listened. "I'm sorry you had to deal with that. I can't believe he tried to talk about that in public."

"I don't wanna think about this anymore. I wish I could move on from this, but it seems like I'll never escape him. He has some sort of invisible hand on my neck that keeps choking me. I just want to be free from this pain."

He felt himself tear up for her. He despised that she was this torn up over a guy who doesn't even deserve to be within a mile of her.

He wanted more than anything to beat this dude to a pulp, but he knew comforting her was more important.

"What can I do?"

"Just stay here with me."

He tightens his hold on her and kisses her head.

"You got it."

***

After the dancing rehearsal, they all retired to the hotel. There wouldn't be anymore events for the day with the exception of dinner, which was many hours from now. Ricky and Nini had decided to mostly stay in the room since she was still upset about Ethan.

He had cuddled with her on their bed until she was okay again. They had watched a few tv shows that were on trying to steer her mind away from all things Ethan.

When she claims she's completely fine, he asks if she'd be fine without him for an hour so he can go practice his skateboard moves. He promised to actually go outdoors this time, which made her laugh.

When he left, she decided it was a good time to update the group chat on the chaotic past few days. They all picked up at the same time with happy faces.

"I've been waiting for you to call us again. I'm so fully invested in your drama if I'm being honest. It's basically if reality TV met a Netflix rom com." Carlos says.

Nini chuckles. "You're not too far off."

"So what's the latest news? Also did you talk to Ricky about the almost kiss like we said?" Kourtney asks.

Nini cringes at the memory of that night completely letting that slip her mind. "Yeah about that..."

"You didn't do it did you?" Gina asks.

"No, sorry to disappoint. It just seemed like it wasn't important enough to bring up again. We both glossed over it, and neither of us are really bothered by it anymore. Plus, there have been other things that have happened since."

They all lean in waiting for her to continue. Carlos and Seb actually had popcorn ready for her to spill whatever new juicy drama she had going on.

"Okay so Ricky and I overheard Ethan arguing with his girlfriend Bethany in the hall about us. Apparently he has been watching are every move since we arrived because he wants to prove that our relationship is false. Also, Ricky and Ethan got in a who's dick is bigger competition and Ethan through a fit when we won. Ricky pissed off Ethan by kissing on my neck, which did leave some marks for a few days. Ricky and I spent a lovely day alone and danced on the beach. And today Ethan made me upset by mentioning our failed wedding, and that's pretty much everything."

The others were all staring at the screen in pure shock. Ashlyn is the first to respond. "You let Ricky give you a hickey?!"

Nini began blushing at that memory. "Yeah I don't think he meant to leave marks, but it is what it is. We had to make it look like we're in love in front of him at all times."

"Girl I feel like a simple kiss on the cheek would've been fine. Something tells me you two lowkey enjoyed it." Seb says.

Nini laughed nervously. "Shut up we did not."

The others weren't buying it either.

"Was it nice?" Gina asks.

"Would you do it again?" Kourtney questions.

"You guys are so crazy for each other, yet you both are so blind to it that it drives me insane." Carlos states.

"I second what Carlos said." Ashlyn pitches in.

A series of me too's erupted in the chat, and Nini couldn't take the interrogations and assumptions.

"Alright I'll talk to you guys later. Love you bye!" She doesn't wait up for their goodbyes as she hangs up.

She loved her friends, but sometimes they played too much.

***

"Nini."

She rustled in her sleep and rolled the opposite way of his voice.

He shook her arm lightly. "Neens, wake up."

She groaned and pushed his arm away.

"Nini, get up."

She sighed, opened her eyes, and rolled over to face him. "What in gods name do you want at this hour?"

He smirked. "Wanna have some fun?"

She stood up a bit and furrowed her brows. "What do you mean?"

"I have a crazy idea, but you have to get up for it. No need to get dressed."

"What time is it?"

"One a.m. now hurry up and follow me."

"Do I get a vote in this?"

"Nope." He popped the p.

"You're not gonna leave me alone until I follow you are you?"

"Yep." He popped the p.

She groaned and rolled out of bed. "This better be worth it."

"I promise you it will be." He grabbed her wrist and dragged her out of the bedroom.

He had led them down the elevator and tip toed through the lobby. They sneakily walked to the gates of the pool.

"Ricky are you seriously gonna make us trespass?"

"Yes, yes I am." He picked the lock to the gate and held it open for her. "You comin?"

She debated on risking getting in trouble. "Maybe."

"Come on Nini, live a little."

When she meets his gaze, she feels a sudden urge to rebel.

"Race you to the pool!" She ran passed him and canon balled into the water. The splash had gotten a little on him. He took off his shirt and jumped in after her. He swam next to her and grabbed her from behind.

"What made you think of doing this?"

He shrugs as he played with the end of her t-shirt. "It came to me after rewatching High School Musical 2 while you were sleeping. It seemed fun."

She splashed some water on him. "I can't believe you watched that without me! You know how much I love those movies."

"Hey I'm allowed to do things without you you know."

She splashed him again. "Not when it comes to movies."

He splashed her back and she huffed. "Hey don't act all surprised that I retaliated when you splashed me twice."

She splashed him with both hands again with a wicked smile imprinted on her face.

"You wanna go Sal-Robs?"

"It's on!"

They began splashing erratically at each other trying to win. When Ricky couldn't take any more chlorine to his face, he held up his hands in surrender.

"Alright, alright you win this round."

"Boo you coward."

He flipped her off, and she laughed at him. When she realized her shirt was too heavy, she removed it revealing her bra to him. He wolf whistled when she did, and she rolled her eyes.

"Someone is feeling scandalous tonight."

"I guess your rebellious ways have finally wore off on me."

She swims up to him and wraps her arms around his neck. He moves some loose hairs behind her ear.

"I think I like this version of you."

He wraps her legs around his hips; the position made him at chin level.

"There's a lot where that came from."

"Is that so? Show me."

The mood changed drastically as they stared into each other's eyes. He absentmindedly inched his head closer to her neck, and she inclined her neck. His lips softly graze over her neck at first before finally connecting.

He sucked lightly on her skin bringing her closer so he can have more access. She blissfully sighed and gripped his curls. He moaned at the sensation of her pulling his hair, and he was finding it hard to ignore her perky breast pressed so closely to his face.

She bends her head forward and rest her head on his shoulder wanting no, _needing_ more skin contact. His lips begin to move upward to her jawline and both are breathing hard. Right before he gets to her lips, a flash light is casted on them.

"Hey, what're you two doing here?! The pool is closed!" A security guard says.

They quickly separate while Nini grabs her shirt from the water.

Ricky stares at the guard with fear in his eyes. "Shit."

"Both of you come here."

The couple look at each other and seemed to have the same idea. "Run!"

They both hop out of the water and grab their belongings before running the opposite way of the guard.

"Hey get back here!"

The pair laughed maniacally as they ran in zig zag formations to the gate to throw the guard off track. They both successfully jump over a nearby fence that leads to another entrance of the resort.

The guard stopped at the fence giving up on chasing them. "I don't get paid enough for this shit."

When they arrived at their hotel room, they were both out of breath and high on adrenaline.

"That was a rush!" Nini says.

"Hell yeah it was."

"Thanks for forcing me up for this. It was fun."

"No problem."

A silent moment goes by, and they both are pretty sure they're thinking of the same thing. But they're both cowards, so neither would dare to bring up that forbidden kiss.

"Wanna finish the rest of the movie? I didn't get to." He asks.

She faintly grins thankful he didn't address it. "I'm so gonna belt the hell out of Gotta Go My Own Way."

"It's honestly a crime not to."

"Cocoa first?"

She nods. "Definitely cocoa."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oo la la, this has a spicy scene. Til next time!


	6. Stargazing Can Be Amazing After a Day of Faking

An aggressive pounding noise on their door scared the hell out of Ricky and Nini waking them up from their peaceful slumber. 

He rubs his eyes. "Who the fuck is knocking like that at 9 a.m.? There better be a damn fire."

The knocking continued except it only progressively got louder. Ricky groaned loudly as he unraveled himself from her. He dragged his feet to the door and swung it open. "What?" He says with annoyance in his tone without even checking to see who it is first.

He was greeted by a chipper Madison (a rare sight) looking up at him with a cheerful smile. "Good morning to you too Ricky. I just wanted to make sure everyone was ready in time for tonight's dinner party. It's not like the dinner's we've been having because all of the guests will be attending not just the bridesmaids and groomsmen. It's very important you're both well groomed and dressed accordingly, so I woke you up extra early to ensure everything is in check!"

She hands him a sheet of paper. "This is the dress code and time of the event. I expect you to be on your best behaviors. Chau!" She sashayed back to her suite with a pep in her step.

Ricky rolled his eyes and slammed the door. He made his way back to the bed plopping on his back. He snaked his hands around Nini to pull her to his chest in a spooning position. 

"What did she say? I was too drowsy to muster up the strength to listen when I realized it was Madison."

He showed her the paper he was given. "She wanted to make sure we were well prepared many hours prior to the dinner. I don't know about you, but that makes me wanna purposely do the opposite of everything on this list out of spite for waking me up eight hours early."

Nini takes the paper from him and reads it over. "She really woke us up this early just to tell us to wear black and white instead of just white? She could've easily texted this, or hell I even would've been okay with a quick call." She tossed the sheet to the ground.

"You know how she is. She will choose the most extra way before she chooses the easy way out. It's basically the number one rule for all rich people. You didn't read the manual before we got here Neens? Geez I guess you're not as prepared as I thought."

She chuckled and rolled over to face him. "I'm not falling asleep anytime soon, so I guess we may as well get out of bed." As she tried to get up, she was pulled down by him.

"No, we have so much free time to actually get ready. Can we just lay here for a second?"

She was originally gonna oppose stating that they both were bad procrastinators when it came to picking an outfit, but it was so hard to say no to him. Also, she'd be kidding herself if she said she didn't want to feel his strong arms around her again, but he didn't need to know that.

"Fine, but only for a few more minutes." She crawled back into his arms in her previous spooning position. When she did, he surprised her by flipping her so that she was on top of him. She wasn't sure why he did that until he reached down to shower her face with kisses.

She giggled at the ticklish sensation. "Ricky, why're you so kissy today?" He only smiled continuing to kiss whatever exposed skin he could reach.

"I can't help it; your face is so kissable."

"And here I was thinking that you just wanted some more rest."

"I'm such a liar." He placed her body so that she was sitting right above his groin. He kissed up her jawline until he was near her ear savoring the hushed sighs that escaped her mouth. "A big fat liar."

***

They ended up staying in bed for another hour just resting in each other's arms. She allowed him to kiss her face as they relaxed growing used to the intense notion. She did eventually force him to get up much to his dismay. He tried his best to try to convince her stay in bed, but nothing worked this time.

Ricky ends up taking a shower first, and she was both stunned yet entertained that he chose to listen to the Heathers musical soundtrack. She can hear him belting "Seventeen" at the top of his lungs.

She grabs her phone and sneaks into the bathroom while he wasn't paying attention. She started recording him and couldn't help but laugh when he started to sing into the shampoo bottle like a microphone.

Her laughing was too loud though, and he stopped singing when he noticed he wasn't alone. He poked his head out of the curtain.

"Nini, what the hell?"

"I'm sorry, but I just had to record this. It was too good! The group will love this." She began typing away in the group chat until a small shampoo bottle hit her arm.

"You wouldn't dare."

She held up her phone to show her finger over the send button to their group chat. "But I would, and I definitely will now that you threw that bottle at me."

"Nina, I swear to god I will come out this shower."

She smiles deviously as she presses the send button. He squints his eyes and turns the water off, and it was only then when Nini realized he wasn't bluffing. Her smug look dissipated when he started to walk out.

She quickly turned around not wanting to see him in his naked glory. She heard him fully step out of the shower, and her heart was racing when he started walking towards her. She doesn't know why she's frozen in her spot knowing that she could easily leave if she wanted to, but her feet didn't want to cooperate.

She feels his hands slowly roam up her arms, and she shivers but not because of the cool water. He steadily trails his hands down to her hips and brought her to his chest. What she didn't expect was for him to have a towel wrapped around his waist.

The part that shocked her the most was that she was actually a little...disappointed. She didn't know what to do with that information. She was so focused on his touch that she didn't even notice him getting her pajamas wet. He moved her hair to the side so he could bend his head down to her ear.

"I can't believe you doubted me."

He ghost his lips over her neck and forms circles on her hipbones. For a moment, she thinks he might suck on her pulse point like he did last night, but then he smirks as he releases her and goes back into the shower leaving her mind numb. She let out a breath she didn't know she was holding in.

She snaps back into reality when a few of their friends responded to her video. 

_Carlos: Oh my god, are you guys gonna have shower sex? How sinful._

_Ashlyn: I'm pretty sure Nini wouldn't broadcast her having shower sex in the group chat._

_Gina: Oh please, Nini wouldn't dare have shower sex._

_Kourtney: What Gina said. Also if they did, they'd be singing dead girl walking not seventeen duh._

She rolled her eyes at all the comments. Nini should've known they'd make it sexual. She puts her phone to the side not wanting to think about anything related to sexual desires for Ricky. 

But then her mind began to fantasize about sharing the shower with him, and she has to pinch herself to stop thinking such salacious thoughts.

She's pretty sure someone's lips have never had this much of an impact on her. And she _definitely_ never would've imagined Ricky's lips being the culprit.

***

_Two Hours Til_

"You know maybe Madison was right for waking us up early because I literally don't think I have a black and white dress."

"I'm pretty sure I saw the black and white dress you wore to graduation somewhere near the living room couch on the floor when we got in that clothes fight last week."

She walked over to the couch, got on her knees, and was happy to see that she indeed did manage to somehow get it under the sofa.

She lifted it for him to see. "Found it!"

"All thanks to me of course."

"Eh, I guess you kinda helped."

"What do you think of this?"

She turned to look at him and was amazed he could change that quickly. He began strutting and vogueing for her getting a few laughs from her. She popped a squat in a chair in front of him.

"Hm the outfit is 6/10 at best."

He made a mock pretended face. "Your lack of taste is astronomical."

He went behind the dresser to change into another outfit. "What about this one?"

She gave a mildly approving face. "It's nice..."

"Thank you."

"If you're trying to look like a bus boy."

"Damn okay, you're more ruthless than Tyra."

“Where do you think she learned it from boo?”

He changed into his final outfit and did a little turn as he strutted to her.

She gave him a silent clap. "Yep, that's definitely the one. You'll have all the men wishing they were you, and all the women wishing to be on you." 

He snaps in z formation. "You know it."

An hour later, they were both doing the last finishing touches to their appearance in the bathroom. Nini had allowed him to braid her hair as she did her make up because for some reason he had a natural talent of styling her hair. 

While she was applying her blush, she got a scared look in her eyes which of course Ricky noticed immediately. 

"Neens, you good?"

"I just now realized that some of my relatives will be there. I'll have to answer so many questions. I hope none of the ones that'll be there know who you are. God that'd be a nightmare."

He hadn't even thought about that. He had met a large portion of her family through the years, especially at her wedding. There were definitely some that'd recognize him.

"I don't think too many people will know me, and if they do, it won't be the end of the world. I doubt they'll ask as many questions as the others did about our relationship."

She began to calm down. "Yeah you're right. I'm overexaggerating."

"I think the thing I'm least excited about is being surrounded by more people like Madison. That actually sounds like hell on earth."

"Fuck, I didn't think about that. They probably will insult my looks or my lifestyle. We're gonna need a hell of a lot of drinks to get through this night."

He stops braiding to look at her through the mirror. "Hey if they do, it's because they're intimidated by your beauty and kind heart."

She smiled and looked up at him. "You're too sweet."

"And they're probably jealous because your date is hotter than theirs."

She rolled her eyes. "I retract my previous statement."

***

Nini was pretty confident that the ballroom the event was taking place in was made of actual gold and marble. The place looked like the inside of some ancient castle in Rome she used to read about in history classes. She felt poor just by being in a room like this.

Ricky and Nini have been trying to stay on the outskirts as long as possible having no desire to socialize with any of these people. So far, not many people have approached them due to most of the guests not knowing who they were. 

Unfortunately, that also meant they were bored out of their minds. As they people watched from a corner with their drinks, Nini came up with a fun idea. 

She nudges his arm. “Wanna play a game?”

“You’ve got my attention.”

“We should do as many accents as possible to confuse others so they can’t guess where we’re from.”

He makes a boyish grin. “Actually that sounds pretty fun. I might even come up with some background story for my character.”

“I didn’t even think of that! Imma do the same thing.”

“I guess those acting classes you forced me to take in high school are finally paying off.”

She smiles at the memory of begging him to take them with her so she wasn’t alone.

“Yeah I made you take a lot of classes you didn’t wanna do growing up didn’t I?”

“I’ve lost count at this point. Our friendship is more of a dictatorship.”

“Oh hush you enjoyed every single extra curricular I made you do.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“Shall we start the game?”

“We shall.”

“Shake n’ bake time.” She held her fist out for him, and he fist bumped her. “Shake n’ bake baby.”

Throughout the dinner, a bunch of older people kept commenting on their accents and extreme back stories. Ricky had went with a improvised story about him being a professional French race car driver for NASCAR that had met Nini at one of the races.

Nini only made up stories around people that didn’t know her, but she went with some ridiculous story about her being a British runaway bride (yes she realizes the irony) who ran because she realized she was still in love with her first love, Ricky. 

It was funny watching the people’s reactions to their fake lives and how engaged they were with the story. One person who didn’t find their shenanigans funny was Madison who had overheard Nini’s story from others. She pulled Nini aside.

“What’re you doing?! I said to behave!”

“What? I’m just having a little fun. Ricky and I got bored of just sitting around, so we decided to make up a fake persona.”

“I don’t know how you two find that amusing. It seems more childish to me, and I keep getting random people coming up to me asking questions about you two. So can you stop?!”

“Ugh fine, geez can’t a girl have any fun these days?”

Madison rolled her eyes and returned back to her guest. Nini was about to go tell Ricky to stop the charade until someone tapped her shoulder.

“Nina right?” A blond woman and a few other young women who she wasn’t familiar with came up to her.

“Uh, yes?”

“You’re Madison’s cousin Nina, as in the Nina.”

Nini was confused about what she meant by the Nina. 

“I’m sorry; have we met?”

“No, I’m just a good friend of Madison, but she talks about you a lot. You look exactly how she described.” The woman looked her up and down, which made Nini feel self-conscious. She wasn’t sure if she should take that as a compliment or not.

“I don’t mean to be rude, but is there a reason you wanted to talk to me?”

“Oh yeah, my girl friends and I just wanted to know how you’re so strong. Like I could never even show my face here if I were in your shoes.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m talking about Ethan of course. I mean if I found out I was going to be stuck with the man who ran out on me for two weeks and that he found someone else, I would go insane. Also you look like you’re really holding up well. Madison said you were a real mess after the ceremony...or lack of a ceremony I guess.”

Nini felt the color drain from her cheeks. The thing she feared would happen was occurring, and she just wanted to shrivel up. She couldn’t tell if the blond was being genuinely curious or a pompous bitch, but either way Nini wanted no part of this conversation.

“Well Madison had no business talking about me like that in the first place. You know what? I actually have to head back to my date, but it was nice meeting you ladies.”

Nini swiftly left to go find Ricky before any more questions could be asked. She wanted to be shocked that her own cousin would talk about her behind her back, but she wasn’t. When she found Ricky, he was surrounded by a bunch of younger women Nini assumed had to be Madison’s friends.

She barged into the crowd of home wreckers until she was standing right in front of him with an agitated expression. The second he saw her face, he knew something was wrong. 

“Excuse me ladies, but my girlfriend and I need to talk.” All the women gave her dirty looks as the pair made their way out of the crowd to a quieter area.

“What’s wrong?”

She folded her arms. “Some of Madison’s friends brought up my wedding, and they asked how I’m so strong around him as if I’m prone to break down. I wonder how many friends Madison told about Ethan and I.”

“It’s amazing how tone deaf people can be. I can’t believe she thought that was an appropriate question to ask.”

She looked at the ground trying to calm her nerves. He lifted her chin up to face him. “I’m sorry.” He wrapped her in a hug and kissed her forehead. She didn’t reciprocate at first but eventually melted into the hug feeling her anger simmer down.

From the distance, Ethan had been watching them skeptically. He then saw one of Nini’s great aunts who he knew was pretty close to one of Nini’s moms. He walked up to the woman with a friendly smile.

“Aren’t those two over there just the cutest?” He said pointing over at the pair. The elder woman smiled.

“They are aren’t they? You know, I always had a feeling they liked each other more than friends. I’m just shocked she was able to recover after that embarrassing wedding. Her mom told me she didn’t even consider dating for a while a few weeks ago.”

Ethan rose a brow. “Wait so you’re telling me Nini was single a few weeks ago?”

“Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying. She must’ve just started dating that boy before she came here.”

Ethan smirked victoriously because he remembered they clearly said they started dating a year ago. Though it wasn’t enough to prove they weren’t dating, it was enough to prove they lied for some odd reason. This at least confirmed he had a reason to be suspicious. 

“It’s been a real pleasure talking to you miss. You have a nice night.”

Bethany walked up to him and was confused on why he had been smiling so hard. 

“What’s got you so giddy?”

He looks over at Ricky and Nini. He shrugs trying to appear indifferent. 

“Nothing, just got some pretty interesting news that’s all.”

***

_Night_

Nini had been completely drained after all the faking and prissy people she had to deal with for a few hours. She was so happy to undress and relax in the bed for the next few hours next to the only person that gave her solace. She was just about to fall asleep when he shook her.

“I know you’re tired, but I heard about something that I think you might like. I promise no running from security guards this time.”

“You’ve piqued my interest.” 

“I overheard one of the maids say there was going to be a series of shooting stars tonight. I remember how much you adored those when we were kids. You wanna check them out?”

She smiled for the first time since the dinner party, and he was thrilled to see her buoyant again. She got up from the bed and put on some pants.

“That sounds perfect right now, and you know what? I know the perfect spot to look at them.”

“Lead the way Sal-Robs.”

She guided them to a hammock big enough for the both of them that was near the shore. No one was outside, so all that could be heard was the wind and the soothing music Ricky had been playing from his phone.

She had lied one of her arms on his chest while her head rested on his shoulder. She was playing with his necklace, which happened to be a gift she gave him after a show. He played with her braid as they both enjoyed the night sky. The first shooting star finally flew by. 

“Neens, you gotta make a wish.”

She thought what she wanted to wish for and found it almost impossible to think of one. She was actually pretty content with her life. She had everything she really needed already, so what was there to wish for?

And then she looked up at Ricky.

She gazed at him as he admired the star. He had known her better than anyone in this world. Even her parents didn’t know certain things he knew. He was always there for her regardless of the conditions, and she did the same for him. She adored him. She didn’t know what her life would be like without him, and she never wanted to.

That’s when she knew what she wanted to wish for. 

“I got it.”

He bent his head to look at her. “What’d you wish for?”

“I can’t tell you or else it won’t come true silly.”

He poked his lip out and she reached up to peck his cheek. As they lay there, she kept replaying her wish in her head hoping it’d come true.

_I want him to always be in my life._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been binging the Heathers soundtrack for like two weeks so it was only natural for me to include it at least once. This is probably the tamest chapter so far. Until next time!


	7. Another Day of Sun & a Lovely Night

Nini woke up with a huge smile on her face. The reason? Because she knew that today was another free day she gets to spend entirely with Ricky.

Today was the day Madison and a few others were setting up the ballroom and chapel for the ceremony, so there was no need to follow along with her. The only people from the wedding party that needed to go were the maid of honor, groom, bride, and the best man. 

Since Ethan was the best man, that meant it was highly unlikely for them to bump into him anywhere today. If they did, it'd have to be brief. She looked over to the man sleeping next to her.

He had both arms tightly wrapped around her and one of his legs sprawled out on top of her legs gently snoring. She was almost tempted not to bother him because she loved being under him. Wait! That came out dirty. She means she loved being held by him.

She turned her body to face his and cupped his cheek. She reached over and gave him a few kisses on his cheek and one on his forehead. He mumbled and stirred in his sleep a little bit until he eventually opened his eyes.

His smile reached his ears at the beautiful sight of her caressing his cheeks only a few mere inches away from his face. He placed his hand over the one she was holding his face with.

"Good morning beautiful."

"A good morning indeed, and do you know why it's a good morning?"

"Is it because we don't have to deal with cast of Mean Girls today by any chance?"

"Yep! Since I got to choose where to go first last time, I'll let you decide."

He pulled her so close that they were butting heads. "I vote that we go downtown near the taverns and squares and see what's up. I think I saw them preparing for some sort of convention on our way back from that dinner party yesterday."

"Actually that sounds really fun. Should we get up now?"

"I think we both know by now that I'd prefer staying in your arms all day if I could, but unfortunately that'll never happen."

She blushed and tried to ignore her rapidly beating heart. "No, probably not." The thought of just lounging around all day with Ricky actually sounded like heaven if she was being completely honest with herself, but that seemed more on the romantic side than platonic.

He sighed, and she doesn't miss the disappointed look he makes when he untangled his arms from hers. "Then I guess we should get up now so we can fit more activities into our day."

"Breakfast in bed?"

He nods. "You're speaking the language of gods Neens."

***

They walk to the local markets near the beach, and Ricky took notice of all the longing stares passerby's were giving Nini. 

He couldn't even blame them for admiring her from the distance. Hell, he even caught himself staring too. She had been wearing a white sundress and the flower crown he had bought her. She looked like some sort of angel, and it suited her well.

He then thinks about his conversation with Big Red a few days ago. His little crush hadn't faded away yet, and he was afraid that it might not perish anytime soon. 

If anything, it's only gotten stronger since their last full day together. He wonders if another full day with her in paradise will make him yearn for her even more.

He doesn't know if he necessarily liked the idea of having feelings for her. What if he told her and she didn't feel the same way? Then it'd be hella awkward. Or what if they ended up together and they ended splitting on bad terms? He'd rather die than not have her in his life. 

His thoughts were interrupted when she yanked on his sleeve to point his attention to a product she was looking at. "Hey Ricky, what do you think of this ukulele?"

He forms the perfect symbol. "It's really colorful and full of life just like you."

She beams and buys the instrument. He listened as she strummed random melodies that came to her head. She played him songs by Amy Winehouse, Sara Bareilles, and Michael Bublé as they stroll the streets knowing that he loved those artists. 

They walk by a coconut stand, and Ricky was curious what they taste like. "Ever had coconut milk?" 

"Yeah, once in the Philippines when my moms took me. You wanna try some? My treat."

She buys the coconuts and plucks the straw in the tight hole. The moment he taste it, he grimaces at the tangy flavor. She laughs at his reaction fully expecting him to hate it the whole time.

"This taste like watered down milk."

"Yeah I know."

"You knew and let me drink it? You monster."

"I wanted you to feel the same pain I felt when I first had one. I don't mind them now, but man did I hate them the first time."

"You little sadist."

"Sadist is my middle name."

"No, I'm pretty sure it's Elaine."

"You don't know everything about me sweetheart." She blows him a kiss and walks away as she drinks from her coconut.

After they finish their coconuts, Nini spotted a face painting station and convinced him to do it with her. She gets a colorful peacock on her cheek while he chose a tiger. He immediately regrets it when she kept making Tiger King jokes. 

The artist freely took a picture of them together, and Nini happily made it her lock screen faintly smiling when she saw how joyful he looked in the picture.

Their next activity was a mirror exhibit in a funhouse. Ricky thought of an interesting activity to play. 

"You wanna see if either of us could make it to the end without each other?"

"I feel like you'll get lost in seconds and then come crying for me to find you."

He flipped her off. "Oh please like I'd call out for your help. We both know you'll be the last one to make it to the end."

"Well there's only one way to find out. May the best man win." She said holding out her hand; he takes it shakes it.

"Can't wait to be waiting at the exit for you so I can rub it in your face."

She rolls her eyes and walks to the opposite maze entrance of him.

It turned out he did eventually get lost like she said he would, but he'd never admit that. He had probably bumped into five mirrors by now, and the two way mirrors always scared him for a second.

When he passes by a row of two way mirrors, he spots Nini on the opposite side oblivious to his presence on the other side. He thinks about scaring her by banging on the mirror, but halts when she turned to look at the mirror he happened to be standing in front of.

She looks unpleased with her appearance and begins tampering with her face trying to perfect it, which he thought was ridiculous. She was pristine, and he wished he could tell her that to her face.

He finds himself just admiring her beauty forgetting about the world around him. She placed her finger on the glass and trails it across the mirrors as she walked, and he mimicked her. He was so enchanted by her that he didn't realize that the end of the row was near.

Suddenly, the mirrors end and she's standing right in front of him. She jumps at the sight of him while he just smiled. 

"Holy shit, I almost had a damn heart attack."

"Sorry."

She looks over at the exit to the exhibit. "I guess we both won." 

"It seems that way."

He wraps his arm around her shoulder and kisses her head. She looked at him puzzled. "What was that for?"

"You know you're beautiful right?"

She blushed and looked at the ground. "I guess."

"You are."

"Thank you." She coiled her arms around his frame. "Let's go, I'm suddenly craving burritos."

"As long as you let me pay for once."

"Ricky, we both know I won't let you do that."

"Thought I'd at least try."

***

Nini convinces him to speak to a fortune teller with her saying it's a fun experience even if it was complete bs. After a few eye rolls, he gave in like he always does when it came to her.

The fortune teller looked exactly like they thought she'd look marginally resembling a gender bend of Dr. Facilier from Princess and the Frog. 

"Welcome children please take a seat so I can feel your energies."

Ricky scoffed and Nini nudged his arm for being rude. They plopped down on the bean bags in the small tent awaiting their results.

"I'm sensing something from the young man."

"It's probably my annoyance."

Nini kicked his foot. "Sorry about him."

"It's fine. I get non believers all the time."

She looks into her magic ball and smiles when she sees his fortune. 

"You are going to have an enlightening moment some time in the near future."

He rose a brow and let his guard down. "The hell does that mean?"

"Trust me, you'll know when the time comes."

He wasn't exactly content with the answer, but he had a feeling she most likely wouldn't elaborate.

"For the young woman, I'm sensing something quite interesting from your aura."

"Really? What's so interesting about it?"

The elderly fortune teller muttered some words under her breath in Spanish making a very concentrated face as she did. 

"Young woman, you must follow the spiritual guides when they approach you to find peace."

Nini didn't know what the hell that meant. "Sorry, what spirits?"

"I'm not to say too much, but just know that the spirits have your best interest at heart and they come in different shapes and sizes."

That didn't clear up anything for Nini at all. "Um thank you?"

"That concludes our session. Hopefully you'll both understand my readings when the time is right."

The couple got up and waved at the fortune teller as they exited the tent.

"Well that was...interesting to say the least." He says.

"Yeah...interesting." 

As they walked down the square, Nini couldn't help but wonder about these so called spirits.

***

During the fall of dusk, Nini and Ricky had been walking hand in hand talking about which one of Madison's friends will say an inappropriate drunken toast first when they accidentally walk into a festival occurring in the town square.

There were people dressed in colorful and festive outfits as they danced to the music of a Santana cover band performing "Black Magic Woman" on a stage. Ricky and Nini watched as the dancers spun in ways they only wish they could and how lively everyone was.

"I guess you were right about the festival."

"It looks hella fun. I wonder what they're celebrating."

An attractive young man around their age approached Nini and bowed to her. He took her hand lightly kissed it and asked her a question in Spanish. Ricky clenched his jaw at the sight trying to ignore the uncomfortable feeling in his chest.

"Sorry, I don't speak Spanish."

"¿Bailar conmigo?" He began dancing trying to make her understand. When it clicked what he said, Nini nodded cheerfully. 

"Oh I'd love to dance with you! Ricky, hold my book bag for me. I'll be back in a sec."

He watched as the stranger dragged her into the rowdy crowd. She laughed whole heartedly as the man spun and dipped her showing her the time of her life. He clawed into her bag unknowingly as he glared at them.

He didn't think watching her dance and laugh with someone else would make him this fired up. He hates that he feels envious of a complete stranger who probably had no intentions to pursue her. Not like it was any of his business on who she dates.

His thoughts are disrupted when he feels a tap on his shoulder. An elder woman held out her hand and gestures towards the dance floor. Ricky shook his head. 

"Oh no miss, I don't dance at least not like that."

The woman ignored his protest and pulled him to the dance floor. The elderly woman began dancing with him, and he couldn't help but smile at how adorable the lady was. He spun the lady away from him and the woman pushed Nini to him. She winks at him before dancing with the stranger Nini danced with.

He brings her to his chest and begins swaying to the beat. "This place is so vibrant and flamboyant. I love it so much." She says as she coils her fingers around his curls. He rest his forehead on hers. 

"I'd love to come back at a time where we both can afford it. We'd definitely enjoy it a lot more if it weren't for that damned wedding."

"You wanna come back here with me alone?"

He shrugs as if it was nothing. "Yeah why not?"

She makes a toothy smile. "That sounds like a dream." She puts her head on his chest as they slow danced the rest of the evening relishing the others company in comfortable silence.

When they leave the plaza, they sat on a bench sharing an Oreo milkshake. While she was laying her head on his arm, a bright blue butterfly that was so luminous it appeared to be glowing landed on Nini’s hand.

“Look Ricky!” She says excitingly. 

He stares at the insect in amazement at its features. “Wow, that’s one hell of a luminescent butterfly.”

“Do you know what this means?” 

He raises his brow and shakes his head.

“My Lola used to tell me all about these myths and legends about certain animals meanings. One of her favorite animals to talk about happened to be butterflies. She said that when a butterfly lands on your hand, that means liberation and new beginnings are coming.”

“What do you think you will be letting go?”

She shrugs cluelessly. “I’m not sure yet. I guess we’ll have to wait and find out.”

The butterfly flew away into the night leaving the pair to themselves. She watched the arthropoda fly to the end of a bridge at the seashore. She squinted her eyes when she saw a group of people gathered around a bunch of lights.

Her curiosity was telling her she needed to see what was going on. “Hey I’m gonna go check out what they’re doing over there. It seems entertaining. You coming?” 

“Yep.” He sipped the last corner of the milkshake and tossed it before they made their way over to the bridge. Nini saw the orange cylinder lanterns on the ground.

“Do you and your boyfriend want a lantern? We’re about to light them up into the sky.” A stranger asks.

Her face lights up. “Oh my god, are these floating lanterns?! Yes, we’d love some!” The stranger happily gave them each a lantern. 

Nini squealed from her excitement. “It’s just like my favorite scene in Tangled! I’ve always wanted to do this, but I never thought I’d have a chance.”

His heart skips a beat when he sees how her face lit up so much she appeared to be glowing. They stood at the railing of the bridge with him standing behind her. The stranger went around and lit everyone’s lanterns and told them to wait before they let go.

“Alright on the count of three you may set your lantern free. 1, 2, 3!”

Everyone let go of their strings and watched in amazement as their lanterns flew into the night sky. Ricky wrapped his arms around her and watched her face as she gazed at the sky in wonder.

Suddenly, his heart began glowing and an extraordinary feeling fully overcame him as he looked at the woman in his arms. He wanted to always see her this happy about life while he was by her side until the end of time. And that’s when it hit him.

It was no longer a crush. It was more. It was _so_ much more.

“Why’re you looking at me like that?”

His ferment gaze doesn’t stop and neither did his rapid heartbeat. He kisses her cheek. “Just thinking that’s all.”

She looks at him questioningly, but decides to let it go. “Wanna get some drinks? I heard one of the bars here give cheap tequila shots on weekdays.”

“Sure.”

***

"Neens, I told you time and time again I'm not as think as you drunk I am." He slurs.

She drags him in the hall of their hotel to her best ability. "Ricky, you drank far too much. I knew I should've stopped you after your sixth shot of tequila. I just hope you don't end up puking."

He giggles as he almost trips on his own shoelaces. She opens their hotel room door and helps him to the bed. He was slowly leaning back, but she stopped him.

"Woah there tiger, I gotta wipe that make up off your face and then you can sleep all you want. I'm gonna take off mine first real quick. Stay put while I get settled in. Understand?"

He smiles and gives a loose thumbs up as he tried his best to concentrate on sitting upwards. He rips off his shirt feeling the heat of the liquor in his bloodstream takeover. When she came back, he beamed.

"Nini where have you been? I've missed you! Never leave me alone again." He opened his arms out for her to hug.

She chuckles as she sat on his lap. "Sit still. I need to make sure all the paint gets off. I'd hate to ruin these expensive ass sheets."

He smiled goofily at her as she scraped the paint off of him. "You have the most captivating eyes I've ever seen. They're even prettier than EJ's."

"Thank you, but you and I both know EJ has the best eyes of the group."

He shakes his head. "Nope, you do end of discussion. He's got nothing on you."

He pulls her closer to him by her hips, and she has to calm herself down when she realized how suggestive their position was.

"And you know what else? You're probably my favorite person in the world. No, in the galaxy! No, in the whole universe! I don't think I'll ever care for someone like I do for you."

"Awe Ricky, that's really touching. You're my favorite person too."

He makes a quick glance at her lips unbeknownst to her. "I think you're drop dead gorgeous. It's amazing that a goddess like you could even exist. I'm so damn lucky to know you. You have no idea." His fingers slowly trail under her shirt tracing letters she can't decipher on her bare hip. 

She scrubbed the remaining paint off of his face trying her hardest to not combust. "You're only saying these things because you're drunk."

All of a sudden, his zany demeanor vanished at her words. "No, I meant every word I said. You're just so perfect to the point that it's unfair. I could never figure out how you did it so effortlessly."

She rested her hands on his shoulders. "Ricky, where is all of this coming from?"

He didn't say anything as he gazed into her eyes with a look she's never seen on him. He looks the most vulnerable she'd ever seen him. He placed his head in between her breast and held her close.

She encircled her arms around his head resting her head on top of his. She was sure he could hear her heart beating at an irregular pace. She wasn't sure what exactly had gotten into him, but she didn't mind holding him until he nodded off to sleep.

"Nini?"

"Yes?"

"I have something to confess."

"What is it?"

He hesitates before he speaks and holds her securely as if he were afraid she'd run afterwards. She could sense his nervousness, so she stroked his hair gingerly as she waited patiently for him to speak.

"I've imagined us being an actual thing more than once, even before this wedding. I can't stop fantasizing what it'd be like to be yours. The more I try to stop, the more I dream of a possible us. And if I'm being honest, the whole waking up next to each other every day forever thing doesn't seem as crazy anymore."

She stills in his arms, and she's sure the air has left her lungs. She wasn't positive if what she heard was all in her head or not. Before she can even respond, he's rolling them on the bed on their sides keeping his firm grip on her.

He places a gentle kiss on her forehead and cradled her into his chest. "Sweet dreams Nina."

She was wide awake when he eventually fell into a deep sleep. She can't stop thinking about his words. She feared he wouldn't even remember what he said in the morning, and she'd have to just pretend as if he didn't just admit he visualized them being together forever.

She doesn't get any sleep that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I totally named this chapter after two La La Land songs. Also shamelessly got a lot of this idea from Tangled because that scene is cute asf.


	8. The Boiling Point

Nini didn't get much sleep that night. Her mind wouldn't allow her to rest as she snuggled with the man beside her. When she did finally close her eyes, she heard birds chirping.

In the morning, she wakes up to the sound of Ricky's music playing lightly. She fluttered her eyelids as she looked around the room for her curly headed friend. She finds him in the kitchen downing some pain killers most likely to cure his hangover.

He smiles brightly when he meets her eye. "Hey sleepyhead, you're finally awake."

She squinted when the sun's rays landed on her face. "What time is it?"

He pours her a cup of coffee and sits down on the bed next to her handing her the mug. "10:30. I didn't wanna wake you since I know we had a long night. Good thing the petting zoo trip isn't until 1."

She looks at him expectantly waiting to see if he'd bring up what he said last night. When he looked at her with a lost face, she figured he wouldn't bring it up unless she did.

She sets the mug aside and takes a deep breath. "Ricky what all do you remember from yesterday after you started drinking?"

He scrubbed his face as he tried his best to recall the events of last night. "I remember going to the bar with you and ordering us a pitcher to share and a few other shots of I think it was tequila? No way of telling at this point. And then I remember crashing on the bed, and I think we had a brief convo before I was knocked out."

Nini frowned and looked down at her lap. "Oh so you don't remember anything else?"

"No, I don't."

He picked up on her disappointment and was concerned he might've done or said something unforgivable.

"Neens, did I say something to you last night?"

She still doesn't meet his gaze when she shrugs. "Oh no it's fine. I was just...curious that's all."

He wanted to believe her, but her body language was saying otherwise. He places a hand on top of hers and she flinched at his touch, which broke his heart. In all their years of friendship, she has never denied holding his hand.

"Nini, what's wrong?" He scoots closer, but she quickly gets up from the bed avoiding any form of eye contact with him. 

"It's seriously nothing just forget about it." He was about to say something, but she spoke over him before he could continue. "I'm gonna go take a shower." She turns on her heels and quickly walked to the bathroom.

He frowned as he watched her run away from him. Now he knows for sure he definitely had done something if she's this upset he doesn't remember. He ruffles through his chocolate curls and falls back on the bed trying to think of something he could've said that would make her react like this.

"I'm so fucking stupid."

***

During breakfast in the cafe, Ricky couldn't stop looking at her. It was clear she didn't want to be interrogated by him despite him dying to know. He also knows her and knew she'd tell him what's bothering her when she's ready.

But he hated not being able to hold her hand, hug her, or press sweet kisses to her cheek that always made her giggle. They were only sitting a mere few inches away from one another, but it felt like there was a ten foot wall between them.

Not wanting to deal with the tension, he gets up from his seat and makes a poor excuse about getting some extra napkins.

As he grabs a pile of napkins he doesn't actually need, a woman appears in front of him. She's looking up at him with a flirtatious look while twisting her long blond hair.

"Uh hi?" 

"Hi." She holds her hand out for him to shake. "I'm Valerie."

Ricky wasn't sure why this complete stranger was introducing herself to him, but he didn't want to be rude so he shook her hand back.

"Ricky."

"What a cute name. It really suits you." She scans his body up and down, and he awkwardly laughs. 

"Um thank you."

"Well Ricky I happened to see you around the hotel, and I admit that I did a double take when I saw you."

He blushes and scratches the back of his head. "Oh wow how nice..."

"So are you free sometime tonight Ricky? I have a whole bedroom to myself." She gives him a lustful gaze and pokes her chest out for display.

"Oh you know what? I'm actually here with someone else so..." He says pointing at Nini. The girl didn't seem to be intimidated. 

"Well when you get tired of her you can just come knocking on my door in room 102. Hope to see you later Ricky." She winks at him before sashaying away. 

Ricky lets out a breath when he poops down in his seat. Nini finally looks at him for the first time since they've been downstairs. "Well you took a long time to get napkins. Did something distract you?"

He examines her stiff body language and noticed she's unamused with him for some reason. "Uh yeah kinda some chick tried to get me to sleep with her."

Nini raises her brow and stops typing on her phone. "Really now?"

"Yeah really."

"And what did you say?"

Call him crazy, but he swore he sensed a hint of jealousy from her accusing tone. "I said I was with someone, and she said to meet her in her room if I changed my mind and that was the end of that."

She nods while she bites the inside of her cheek. "Are you gonna take up on her offer?"

Ricky grimaces at the thought of being with any girl other than...well you know. "Definitely not. She's not my type."

And for a split second, he thinks she's about to ask another question, but she doesn't and drops the subject completely. 

They walked on eggshells around each other for most of the morning and early afternoon trying to avoid discussing whatever he said last night, and the tension between them had been obvious to the rest of the wedding party when they were at the petting zoo.

Brooklyn had pulled Nini away from the rest of the crowd in a vacant area. 

"Hey are you and Ricky okay?"

Nini was thrown off by the question. "What? Yeah of course we are. Why would you think otherwise?"

"Anyone can tell there's some barrier between you two. You guys are way more lovey dovey and touchy than this, and I haven't seen you even look at him once the entire time. And I definitely didn't miss his pining eyes on you. It's all the group has been talking about. So what's going on?"

Nini sighs. She really wanted to tell her the truth, but she knew revealing their secret would ruin the whole point of this trip.

"Last night, Ricky got pretty wasted and said some words that I'm not sure how to take in. He doesn't remember what he said, and I've been kinda icing him out because I feel weird around him now. It's weird to explain."

"Do you mind telling me what he said?"

Nini shakes her head. "Sorry I can't."

"Well for what it's worth, I think he's really sorry for whatever he said. He can't stop giving you lost puppy eyes even now." She points at him.

Nini looked over to see him looking over at her with an impuissant expression. He gives her a small grin when she looks at him, and she can't help but swoon over how adorable he looked. 

"Yeah I know."

"Hopefully you two will get passed this bump in the road."

"Me too."

"Let's head back to the group. I want to hold a snake." 

"All you need to do is hold Ethan."

Brooklyn snickers. "Good one!"

Brooklyn takes Nini's hand and leads them back to the group. Nini gives Ricky a smile, and he instantly smiles back. 

"Hey."

"Hi." 

She reaches down and grabs his hand. "Wanna go look at some llamas?" 

He nods a little too enthusiastically just happy she was talking to him again. "Yeah anything you want."

"Come on." She squeezed his hand to reassure him that she wasn't upset anymore. As they walked hand in hand, she couldn't help but blush when she noticed he couldn't take his eyes off of her.

The tension between the pair begins to simmer down as they toured the zoo. There was still a little bit of a distance, but they were overall back to their normal selves. Currently, they were eating cotton candy as they looked at monkeys.

Ricky told himself that he'd wait for her to talk first, but it just didn't sit right with him that she froze him out for the first half of the day.

"Hey Neens?"

She turns her head up at him with cotton candy all over her lips. "What's up?"

"What did I say? I mean it had to be pretty bad."

Her body stiffened, and she turned her attention to the monkeys wanting to talk about anything else.

"That monkey is pretty cute. Don't you think?"

"Neens, come on don't be like that."

"Oh look! That one is throwing a banana at one of the employees."

"Nini..."

"I wonder how long it takes to train them. Probably years."

"Oh for fucks sakes Nina!" The mention of her birth name gets her attention. 

"What? I'm just admiring the monkeys."

He rolled his eyes. "Stop avoiding my question."

She groans when she realizes she's not escaping this one. "I don't wanna talk about it now."

"I know, but I don't think it's fair that you just gave me the cold shoulder without actually explaining why you've been so weird around me all day. We never avoid each other. That's not us. We tell each other everything, and you know my pet peeve is when you don't tell me what's bugging you. So Nini, what was it that I did that made you so uneasy around me?"

She looks to the floor in shame and rocks on her heels nervously. She feels her eyes welling up, and she hopes he magically doesn't notice. Of course he does, so he wraps his pinky around hers. She smiles at his gesture and wipes the tears rolling down her cheeks. 

"You said something last night that made me really...confused. I was so puzzled that my mind wouldn't stop replaying your words all night. It's been irking me because I've been trying to make sense of my own feelings about it, and I can't seem to. That's why I've been acting so cold with you, but it's not your fault you don't remember what you said. I'm sorry for being a dumbass."

Though she didn't say what exactly made her act out, it was enough for him to feel a little better. For now, her answer was enough. He smiled and pulled her into a hug. She takes a minute to register he was holding her before she wraps her arms around him.

"I'm sorry too for whatever I said." She shakes her head and holds him closer. "No, you have nothing to apologize for." They stayed there in each other's arms loving the feeling of being held by each other. Nini doesn't think she can ever go that long without holding him again.

All of a sudden, a monkey snatched Ricky's cotton candy from his hand. 

"Hey what the fuck?!"

The monkey smiles wickedly at him as it ate the treat. It then began laughing at him.

Nini bursts into laughter. He looked down at her in mock betrayal. "You're supposed to be on my side!"

"I'm sorry, but that's funny as hell."

"You know what?" He snatches her cone from her and begins eating it. 

"Hey, give it back!" 

He lifted the treat high above his head so she couldn't reach it. He pointed and laughed at her as she tried her best to climb him.

"Yeah how does it feel? Not so funny now huh Sal-Robs?"

"You're such a baby."

She steps on his toe, which causes him to duck down low enough for her to swipe it away from him.

"That's foul play!"

"Sucks to suck Bowen." She stuck her tongue out at him and walked away. 

"Oh and I'm somehow the childish one."

***

"I can't believe you screamed at that innocent parrot Neens."

"Hey in my defense, it had no business landing on my shoulder like that. No one gave him permission to do that."

"You scared the thing half to death."

"Imagine how I felt!"

"Sorry, but it's just hard to feel sympathy for the person who laughed at me getting robbed by a thief."

"You mean the monkey?"

"A thief is a thief regardless of species Nina. I'll never be the same."

"Here we go again."

"You'll never know true pain until your pride and joy is stripped from you."

"Ricky, it was cotton candy, an easily replaceable object."

"It's not the crime itself; it’s the principle."

She rolled her eyes. "While you reminisce on your traumatic moment that'll become your villain origin story, I'm gonna go buy an overpriced bottle of water." 

As she approached the concession stand, she overheard a familiar male voice yelling at someone. She looks over at a nearby building and spots Ethan in a heated argument with a woman she can't see.

She usually didn't like to involve herself in his business, but she admitted she wanted to be a little nosy this time since he was more fired up than usual.

"It's not the time! Things like this need to be thought out not sprung on someone out of the blue!" He yells.

"Time has been up for a while now Ethan. I've let this go on for too long."

"I'm not ready! Give me more time!"

"If you don't tell her, I will."

The mystery woman walks away in the opposite direction and Nini never got to see who he was talking to. 

"Fuck!" Ethan then aggressively kicks a nearby trash can letting his frustration take over like he always did.

She watched as he stormed off, and she was left wondering what the hell that was all about.

***

_Evening_

When dinner came around, the ladies had split off from the men wanting to gossip about their significant others. Nini had tried her best to try to stay by Ricky's side, but Madison wouldn't let her sit on the sidelines this time. Nini decided to be as quiet as she could as she listened to the women discuss their love lives, and she wondered if Ricky was doing the same. 

"Derek was always so thoughtful about where he'd take us for dates even if there was nothing to actually celebrate that day. We'd always have a few laughs, maybe a couple of drinks, and then end up tangled in each other's arms by the end of the night."

Brooklyn smiled suggestively. "How's the sex? Is he any good?"

All the other women begin to snicker behind their palms while Nini attempted to think of literally anything else besides her cousin's sex life. 

Madison bashfully puts a strand of hair behind her ear before answering. "Oh well if you must know, Derek is quite skilled in bed. I know he appears to be a quiet friendly giant in public, but under the sheets he's an animal."

The other girls kept talking about their partners in bed as Nini zoned out. Her trance was deferred when Madison shakes her arm. "Nina, what about you?"

Nini looks at her clueless to what she was asking her. "I'm sorry what about me?"

"What's Ricky like in the sack?"

Nini's cheeks turn pink at the thought of sleeping with her best friend. "Oh uh I don't think I should be talking about that." She says hoping they'd just let it go. Unshockingly, they weren't gonna let her get away with that.

Bethany playfully nudges her. "Oh come on Nini, we all saw him devour your neck at movie night a few days ago, and you seemed to really be into it. Surely he's just as impressive in bed."

"Yeah and the height difference entails for a lot of unique positions." Brooklyn adds.

Nini's face was burning. She started to imagine what it'd be like to have his hands all over her touching all the right spots. And she already had an idea of what his tongue and lips can do, but that was just on her neck. Who knows what he's capable of in other areas?

Not to mention that she has also seen the outline of his shaft by accident a few times when he walked around the room in just his briefs. She catches herself looking over at Ricky touching the area of her neck that he last kissed. She snaps out of it when she notices that she hasn't answered yet. She was just gonna go by what she already knows.

"Well he's very good with his mouth, especially his tongue."

All the girls lean in wanting to hear more. "Please do elaborate." Brooklyn says.

"Um, he's also great with his hands. His long fingers can really do wonders." That one wasn't necessarily a lie. He was good at massaging her due to his lengthy fingers. She felt herself beginning to fantasize again, but she stops herself before she let her imagination run wild.

Madison smirks. "How big is he? He kinda gives off bde." The other girls all agree, and she didn't like the annoyance she felt in her chest at the thought of the women thinking of his size. 

"He's a perfect fit. Definitely above satisfactory." She felt so awkward and dirty for talking about her friend's shaft without ever actually seeing it. 

All the girls talked in hushed whispers amongst one another, and Nini wasn't sure if she wanted to know what they could possibly be gossiping about. 

"You know what I find crazy? I haven't seen you two kiss on the lips yet. Why is that?" Bethany questions. The other girls all nod and wait for her explanation.

"Oh uh you must've missed all the times we did I guess. Plus, we don't really wanna make others uncomfortable with our PDA."

The other girls all give her knowing looks not believing her at all. "Oh please, you two show more PDA than anyone else in this wedding party with just your longing looks and constant touching. I mean geez you're practically glued to each other!" Brooklyn states.

"You two should kiss!" Bethany pitches. 

"Oh I don't know. He seems a little tired and occupied over there."

The other girls all boo. Madison scoffs. "I'm pretty sure he'd stop what he was doing to kiss his girlfriend. Now go over there." Before Nini can object, Madison is dragging her to Ricky against her will. The other women all cheered her on.

"Ricky, come here. We wanna talk to you." Madison yells.

He gets up from his seat and walks in front of the two women. "What's up?"

"Well the ladies and I realized that we haven't seen you lovebirds kiss before."

Ricky blushed and looked at Nini with a scared expression. "Oh?"

"Nini said it's because you guys aren't comfortable being affectionate in front of us, but I just wanted you to know that no one here minds if you kiss publicly. Matter of fact, we encourage it. Isn't that right guys?" The rest of the wedding party all agree. "See? Nothing to be worried about. Now go ahead and kiss her."

"Oh how considerate." Ricky said trying his best to hide his nervousness. Nini looked at him with a solicitous face. 

"Well what're you waiting for?"

The two start having a conversation with their eyes trying to read the other's body language. She finally shrugs. "Why not?"

He's taken aback by her decision, and mouths "really?" to her to make sure she's okay with this. She gives him a faint nod. They steadily walk up to each other until they're a few inches apart. He awkwardly places his hands on her waist and gives her another concerned look.

She places her hands on his shoulder and takes a big breath. It's just a silly kiss; she shouldn't be this anxious. She met his gaze, and they slowly ease into it until their lips finally meet.

Her mind goes completely numb at the feeling of his soft lips on hers. The first thing she feels is her heart beating at 100 mph. The second thing she thinks is she needs more. She gets on her tippy toes and brings him even closer to her lips.

He moans when she tugs at his hair. He cradles her head as his other hand is securely holding her as close to him as possible. She licks his lips wanting to taste more of him, and he opens his mouth for her welcoming her tongue happily.

When they ultimately depart, they both are left gasping for air in each other's arms. They gaze into one another's eyes trying to take in what they just did, and how _right_ it felt.

"Wow I said kiss her not devour her face!" Madison jokes. The pair finally release each other, but don't stop their eye contact. He's looking at her like she was some treasure he had been searching for his whole life. 

He takes her hand disturbing her thoughts. "Let's sit. I think we both need it." She nods and lets him usher them to their seats. When the conversation finally steered away from them, both of them were left secretly desiring for the other's touch and wondering if the other felt a shift too.

***

After dinner, the pair had walked up to their rooms in silence knowing that they'd eventually have to address the kiss. This wasn't like the neck kisses they shared on the beach or pool. No, this was a different ball game.

When they entered their room, both went to the opposite sides of the bed not wanting to be the first to bring it up. He accidentally meets her eye, and she shies away from his gaze. He sighed loudly.

"So should we talk about it?"

Nini struggles to look at him. "I think we should."

"Honestly, I didn't mind it. It was actually really..."

"Nice?"

He nods. "Yeah, nice."

An uncomfortable pause comes between them for a moment before she works up the nerve to speak.

"You're a good kisser."

He smirks. "Yeah?"

"Yeah, much better than I imagined."

"I didn't realize you've been thinking about me kissing you."

Her cheeks become warm. "Th-that's not what I meant."

"Then what did you mean Neens?"

"I don't know..."

Another awkward silence falls upon them.

"Let's just go to bed." She suggests.

They undress into their pj's and get under the covers making sure to rest back to back. Ricky tried his hardest not think about it; he really did. But it wasn't enough; he craved for more. 

"You know, you're not too bad a kisser yourself."

He feels her body roll over. "Really?"

He rolls over to face her and misjudged how close she was to his face. "Yeah."

They stare at each other longingly, and Ricky grazes her cheekbones. She takes one glance at his lips before closing the distance between them. He immediately kisses back with just as much passion.

He rolls them over so that he's on top not breaking the kiss. She encircles her legs around his hips pulling his head closer. She tugs at his shirt signaling him to take it off, and he rips it off. 

She pulls off her top exposing her lacy bra to him, and he almost loses it at the sight of her. 

"You're so breathtaking Neens."

He sucks on the sensitive part of her neck, and she moans into his ear. She started grinding her hips against his yearning for friction.

"Ricky..."

He stops to look at her. "Want me to stop?"

She shakes her head. "What? God no, I was just gonna say lie down."

He smirks as he flips on his back. "Yes ma'am." 

Neither really got that much rest that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally the moment you've all been waiting for has come and so did Ricky & Nini (pun completely intended).


	9. Cold Feet

Nini wakes up to the feeling of warm kisses being pressed against her bare shoulder and neck.

She looks down to see Ricky's hand just below one of her breast while they were lying in a spooning position. For a second, she thinks this must be some sort of dream because there's no way she slept with her long time best friend last night.

There was no possible way they were lying naked next to each other after almost an entire night of endless kissing, caressing, and cuddling. It just didn't add up.

But then he kissed her collarbone, and she knew it was real.

She gets a sudden flashback of her lying under him clawing at his back, touching all the right spots, moaning words of pleasure, pleading him for more as he ravished her in a way no other man ever has. 

"Hey." He says pressing a kiss to her cheek.

She pulls the sheets to cover up to her nose. "Hi."

"Last night was amazing."

He reaches down to give her a kiss, but she quickly yanks the comforter over her face before he can. He looks at her stunned. "Everything alright?"

"Uh yeah totally! I just need to go wash my face real quick. Be right back." She wraps the comforter around her body as she hurriedly jumps off the bed and runs to the bathroom. Damn, she really needs to stop escaping to the bathroom.

When she shuts the door behind her, she grabs a fistful of her hair as she begins to silently freak out. She for some reason cannot for the life of her accept that this happened. She's never let her own lustful desires overcome her like this.

She looks at herself in the mirror and gave herself a disapproving gaze. She couldn't believe she did something so stupid! This'll change their friendship forever whether it was a one time thing or not. 

She wasn't ready for change. She wasn't ready to go into the unknown without figuring out her own feelings for him first.

She wasn't ready to embrace Ricky.

She dropped the comforter threw on some pajamas she had lying around on the bathroom floor. She needed space to clear her head. 

When she gets dressed and walks out, she sees Ricky sitting upright in the bed in only his pj pants. It was obvious he had been waiting for her due to his worried expression.

"Hey, so I think we should probably talk."

She scrunches her nose and shakes her head. "Um actually my mind is kinda fuzzy. I was gonna go take a walk or something to clear my head."

He gets up from the bed and begins walking to her but stopped when she began walking backwards. "Nini, what's going on?"

"There's no problem!" She says a little too abruptly.

Of course he sees right through it. "Oh really? There's no problem?"

"Nope." She pops the p.

"Then why did you step away from me?"

She turns her head away from him. "I don't know what you're talking about." 

He makes one step towards her, and she backed up again. "See? You just did it again."

"It was a natural reflex."

"Nini, look me in the eye and tell me you're not running from me."

She looks down at her fingers unable to meet his gaze. "I...can't."

"Why're you running from this? I thought that we-" He doesn't finish his statement, and Nini wasn't confident if she wanted to hear the rest of his sentence.

"Ricky, I just need some time alone for a little while. There's a lot of new info I need to take in that I never got the chance to comprehend."

She made sure not to look at his face as she walked passed him to the door. She tried her best to pretend like she didn't feel his eyes on her. 

She knew that her heart would shatter into a million pieces if she saw his disheartened face. Before she's able to walk out the door, he grips her wrist.

"Did I mess up again?"

She stopped in the door frame, but didn't look back at him. Hearing the hurt in his voice made her want to want to die. She hated hearing him so crestfallen, especially when it wasn't even his fault either times for her offbeat behavior to his affection.

"No, you're...you're perfect Ricky."

And with those parting words, she left him alone in that room. 

***

Nini didn't know where she was going. All she knew was that she couldn't handle staying in that room with him. 

She let her feet guide her to wherever they desired. As long as it was far away from him, she'd be okay. Her feet lead her to one of the outdoor lounge areas, and she thinks she sees a familiar woman in one of the rooms. 

The woman had her head hidden behind her long raven hair crying into her hands. When Nini saw she was wearing a designer dress with a matching Prada bag, she knew that no one else in the resort would even wear this except for one person. 

When Nini walked in the lounge area, the woman was so occupied with her weeping that she didn't even register that she wasn't alone.

"Madison, is that you?"

She sprung her head up, quickly wiped away her tears, and fixed her posture. "Nina, uh what're you doing here? And why're you in your pjs? Aren't you supposed to still be in bed? You never willingly get up early."

Nini sighed and plopped down in the seat next to her. "I could ask you the same thing. Why're you crying?"

Madison waves her off. "Oh it's just me PMSing. You know how it is."

"Madison come on, you don't actually expect me to believe that do you?"

They both got in a stare down waiting for Madison to finally give in. Madison sighed in defeat. "Okay fine, I'm reconsidering well...everything." 

Nini furrowed her brows. "What do you mean everything?"

Madison scrunched up her face and a few tears rolled down her face. "The wedding." She put her hands over her face to hide her tears from her. 

Nini was shocked at her confession. "Wait are you having second thoughts about marrying Derek?!"

Madison answered with louder cries and eventually nodded. "Yes..."

"Why? You two seemed so in love! We have the bachelor and bachelorette parties tomorrow, and not to mention the wedding is in two days!"

Madison brought her knees to her chest and hugged her legs looking out in space. "We are in love. That's the problem!"

Nini was more lost than she was before. The last time she checked an engaged couple loving each other wasn't a tribulation. "I'm sorry, but I'm not following."

Madison sniffles. "I'm upset because I know I don't deserve him. He's way too good for me, and I don't wanna be selfish and keep him to myself when there's better options. But I love him so I always want him to have what's best for him."

For the first time in her entire life, Nini realized she never actually has seen Madison show raw emotion to this level unless it was anger. She scooted next to her and wrapped her arm around her.

"That's not true. He chose you for a reason right? So that must mean something."

Madison rolled her eyes. "Oh please Nina, don't act like you like me. You and I both know I'm a total heartless self absorbed bitch."

Nini made a poker face trying her best to think of comforting words, but she couldn't deny Madison's statement.

Madison lets out a humorless laugh. "See you can't even disagree with me, and I don't even blame you."

Nini delicately rubbed her hand on Madison's shoulder. "Hey don't be too hard on yourself."

"Derek deserves someone caring and nurturing. He's so passive with my crude behavior most of the times, and I sometimes wonder if he's rethinking being with me."

"Madison, if he truly didn't want to be with you, I feel like he would've said so by now. He doesn't seem like the type that'd just bail on you or lead you on."

She wipes away some of her tears and looks at her with hopeful eyes. "You think so?"

Nini grins and nods. "I know so."

"Thank you Nini. You're a really good person."

Nini made a full smile when she referred to her as her nickname for the first time since she's known her. "It's nothing. At the end of the day, you're my cousin. We gotta stick together."

Madison gave her a sympathetic look but swiftly formed a genuine smile. "You know Nini, you might be the realest person I know, well besides Ricky of course."

Nini cringes at her compliment due to the irony. "Thanks, but I'm not so sure that's accurate."

"Nonsense. No one is as legit as the two of you. God I'd kill for your relationship with him. All of the people at this wedding including my own friends are fake little Barbie dolls and puppets too afraid of being unique because we care too much what people think. Hell, even I'm one of those poor conditioned bastards. The only difference is that I have the balls to say it."

Madison whips out a flask of some strong scented liquor from her purse and begins chugging it before continuing her monologue.

She moved her head closer to Nini. "You wanna know a secret?"

"Sure."

"I only keep all of those posers around because anything is better than being alone. I have no one else's besides Derek. Just me, myself, & I."

Nini places her palm on Madison's knee. "And me." 

Madison gave her an astonished look. "Really?"

"Yeah."

Madison wiped away any remaining tears and let out a deep breath.

"Sorry for dropping this bomb on you like you're my therapist or something. I'm pretty sure I'm one of the last people you wanna be talking to right now, especially about weddings. Also, sorry for not bringing up that Ethan would be here. I didn't even think twice about it. At least you have Ricky as a buffer."

Her heart stung at the mention of him. "Honestly, talking to you has been a nice distracter from my own problems."

Madison rose a brow. "What do you mean problems?"

Nini thinks before she reveals what's tormenting her brain. If Madison was this willing to open her heart to her and admit her lies, then what's stopping Nini from doing the same?

"Um you see I may not be as earnest as you made me out to be."

"How so?"

Nini started anxiously fiddling with her clothes. "Ricky and I aren't actually dating. We're just best friends."

Madison gasp. "What?!"

"Yeah I know, I just couldn't show up here alone in front of all your judgmental friends. When I found out Ethan was the best man and had a girlfriend, I was devastated! I knew I had to find someone to bring so he wouldn't know I'm still single, so I asked Ricky and he said yes. It's pathetic I know."

"No, it's not. If I were in your odd situation, I'd probably do the same. By the way, that was a genius move by bringing Ricky to piss off Ethan. After all, Ricky is so in love with you, so it must've not been hard to pretend."

Nini was thrown by her accusation. "Woah where'd you get that idea that he loved me?"

Madison chuckled, but stopped when she realized Nini was legit. "Oh shit, you weren't kidding? That man is so head over heels for you. Literally anyone can see it. I'm pretty sure that's why Ethan is so annoyed with you two. How could you not know?"

"I-I don't know. He said something pretty interesting two nights ago when he was drunk, but he didn't say any actual words implying romantic feelings."

"Then what'd he say?"

"Something along the lines of I'm his favorite person, he thought about us dating for a while now, and he can see us waking up next to each other forever."

Madison gave her a look of disbelief. "Wait that man literally said he thought of being with you, wouldn't mind waking up next to you til the end, and you don't think that's romantic? Child are you deaf?!"

"What? I just don't see that as a love confession. Plus he hasn't been that vocal about his romantic feelings with me since then."

"Honey, he basically poured his heart out to you that night! Surely he's tried to give little hints that he was attracted to you since then right?"

Nini's cheeks became pink at the memory of last night. "Um yeah I guess you could say that."

Madison picked up on her sudden bashfulness. "What happened?"

Nini didn't even notice she had been smirking as she remembered his fingers doing its magic on her. She had to shake her head before she got off track.

"Well you see after we kissed at dinner last night-

Madison gasps loudly. "Oh my god! I just realized we peer pressured you two to kiss. I'm sorry that must've been so awkward afterwards!"

Nini indifferently waves her off. "No worries. I suppose it was bound to happen sometime. Anyways, after we went up for the night, we spoke about how much we liked the kiss. One thing led to another and then well..."

Madison beamed. "Oh my god, you guys had sex didn't you?!" She accidentally yells.

Nini shushes her. "Yes, okay we had sex."

Madison squeals and holds both of Nini's hands. "Was he good? I need details!"

"I'm not gonna go into too many graphic details, but I'll admit that he was _definitely_ more than impressive."

"Oo I'm glad you had a nice night. The real question is why aren't you up there with him?"

Nini frowned. "Yeah that's where the problem comes in. I kinda flipped out when I realized what we did, and I'm not sure what this means for our relationship now. So I did what I always do when my feelings aren't clear, I ran away."

"So that's why you're down here? You're running from him?"

Nini nods shamefully. "Yeah pretty much."

"Nini, do you have feelings for him?"

Nini shrugged. "I'm not sure what I feel."

Madison squeezes her hand. "I think you do."

A moment of silence goes by allowing Nini to think.

"For what it's worth, I think you and Ricky would make a fantastic couple. I mean if you guys have that much chemistry and passion for each other when you're faking, I can't imagine what it'd be like if it were legit. He understands you, knows pretty much everything about you, and deeply cares for you. He's basically your match made in heaven. So why not?"

"I'll consider it. In the mean time, you need to tell Derek everything you told me a few minutes ago. He needs to know your insecurities so he can confirm he indeed loves you no matter what. Flaws and all. It'll definitely ease your nerves. If not, then at least you cut off a dead relationship before you signed the papers. Either way, I'm here for you."

To Nini's surprise, Madison wraps her in a hug. She couldn't believe this was the first hug Madison gave her that wasn't a greeting.

"Thank you Nini for everything. Now I don't know about you, but I'm gonna need a swig of this tequila before I go back up." She downs a little from her flask before passing it to Nini. 

"Cheers to that." Nini takes a quick sip before handing it back to her. They both get up from their spots.

"Well good luck with Derek."

"You too. Oh and Nini, don't make him wait too long okay?"

Nini watched as Madison walked away before heading to the shore to think about a certain curly headed brunette. She hears a rustling in the bushes and swore she saw a silhouette of someone, but she thinks it's most likely in her head.

Suddenly, a blue butterfly landed on her hand. She noticed it looked a lot like the same one that she saw at the harbor.

"Hey little guy, you following me?"

She brought it to eye level. It was glowing a little lighter somehow despite it being daylight.

"Wanna join me?" She went to pet it, but it flew into the building leading to the elevator. Something in her gut told her to follow it, but she decided against it. Besides, she had a lot of things she needed to sort out. 

***

The moment she left, Ricky was trying to understand her words. What did she mean he was perfect? If he were so perfect, why'd she leave? He had no idea where she stood on their relationship.

He rung up Big Red for a FaceTime to fill him in. 

"Let me guess, Nini problems?"

"When is it not Nini problems at this point?"

"Fair enough, so what's wrong this time?"

"Well uh Nini and I have been getting pretty damn close since the last time I saw you. Like _really_ close."

Big Red smirked and nodded approvingly. "Alright nice man. How so?"

"Last night, we ended up kissing."

Big Red gaped. "Holy shit! I didn't think you guys would ever find the courage to finally kiss. That's one big step man."

"We uh may have done a little more than kissing."

Big Red paused not wanting to jump to conclusions yet. "Wait you don't mean..."

Ricky nods. "Yeah I do."

Big Red throws his hands in the air. "Holy fuck! This is so much better! I can't believe this. Oh wait, how is that a problem?"

"Yeah she kinda ran away from me the moment she woke up so..."

"What the hell? Why?"

Ricky shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine."

"Did she say anything before she left?"

"She made some excuse about her clearing her head and then when I asked if I screwed up, she said no I'm perfect. But I think the craziest part about that entire convo was that she couldn't even look me in the eye. Red, I'm scared I might've ruined our friendship."

"Ricky, I'm pretty sure there's more to that story on her part. Also, you guys are gonna work this out somehow because you two can't stand being without each other for too long."

"I hope you're right."

"Did you ever figure out how you feel about her?"

Ricky's face reddened and Red didn't miss the longing look he got. "I know I love her."

"Great!"

"But, I don't think she feels the same. I mean why else would she run? She probably regrets it."

"Don't be ridiculous! I've seen the way she looked at you, and we both know she always had a bad habit of avoiding her feelings when she doesn't understand them."

"It sucks though because I felt like we were on the same page because it felt like more than sex, but I guess that was just wishful thinking."

"I say give her time, and she'll come around."

Ricky sighs. "Red, I don't know what I'd do if I lost her."

"You won't." The sound of the doorbell ringing goes off on Red's side. "Hey that's Ashlyn, but don't give up hope just yet. You'll be fine."

"We'll see. Later man." Ricky hung up feeling only a tiny bit better, but nothing was going to make the sting in his heart go away anytime soon until he knew how she felt.

Maybe he should get some air too. Surely there was something to do on this archipelago to occupy his mind. He grabs his essentials and exits the room with no destination in mind.

***

Nini came back to the room later in the evening fully ready to face a most likely confused Ricky, but she was shocked to see he was nowhere in sight. A part of her was relieved since she didn't fully come to terms with her feelings, but another half of her actually wanted to see his face. 

When she noticed one of his bags were gone, she was concerned he might've planned on staying out longer than she thinks. She plops down on the bed and gazes at his side. There was still an outline of where his body was, and she found herself tracing it.

She allowed herself to reminisce on some of her favorite memories with him leading up to now. She thought about when they were kids when they only saw life in pink. Naïve to the world's problems and romance wasn't even a consideration. 

She thought of when they were preteens and had gone through the awkward years of puberty together, and she remembered how he was always there for her when she got her heart broken by some stupid boy.

And then she remembered his lips pressed against hers and how perfect his body molded with hers when they hugged. And how he naturally lit up her world just by existing. She found herself smiling when she knew he'd always hold a special place in her heart regardless of whatever happens.

***

Ricky quietly entered the room well passed midnight knowing she'd probably be asleep. His assumption was correct when he heard her soft snores and saw her starfished on their bed.

If it were a normal night, he'd roll her aside so he can cuddle with her and kiss across her jawline until he falls asleep. But tonight was different. He dresses into his pjs and takes one last look at their bed.

He can't lie down next to her and just pretend like she didn't rip his heart out and leave him confused all day. It just didn't sit right with him. Besides, it probably wasn't a good idea to sleep together in their situation, so he takes a pillow and blanket and crashes on the sofa.

He hated how long it took him to go to sleep without her touch. He hated how much his body ached for hers. He hated how she held his heart in her hands. But most of all, he hated how much he was painfully aware that he is undeniably, truly, and forever hers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a little angsty. I'm gonna try to complete this by the 12th because I start school that day, and I'd be consumed by that instead. Only 3 chapters left!


	10. Bachelors & Bachelorettes

Nini slowly woke up from her restless sleep. She didn't feel refreshed at all. If anything, she felt even more drained despite getting all eight hours of sleep.

She rolled over fully expecting Ricky to be there, but was disappointed to feel more sheets instead. She popped her head up to look for him and spotted him already fully dressed for the bachelor party at 11 am (an extremely rare sight).

The men and women were going to be separated all day until well after midnight due to the bachelor and bachelorette parties. The bachelors were leaving an hour and a half earlier than the women, so he needed to be dressed sooner. 

Both were dreading spending their day with people they either don't like or don't know well enough, but the space might actually be good for them.

Neither of them have spoken since the previous morning. Nini didn't feel like she deserved to speak first, so she'd only talk if he did. When he finally noticed she was awake, he only gave her a nod. Not even a generous smile.

They stayed silent as they both got ready for the day, and Nini felt like she was sharing a room with the ghost of a man she used to know. God she'd rather him yell at her for hours than this complete isolation.

She didn't miss whenever he'd walk as far away from her as possible when she got a few inches too close to him. Whether it was something as simple as washing a dish while he was in the kitchen, he'd get up and leave. 

She despised this so much. This was actual hell, and it was breaking her heart.

When he's completely ready to go, he quickly walks to the exit. Desperately needing to hear his voice at least once, she worked up the nerve to speak.

"Hey!"

He stood there holding the door handle waiting for her to say something. He didn't face her though. 

"Be safe tonight."

He remains stationary for a moment, and Nini swore he was going to say something. But he doesn't and he left.

Her heart sunk.

She let herself come undone allowing the tears to roam freely down her cheeks. She didn't even blame him for shunning her since she had essentially done the same to him twice.

She knew she deserved it. She deserved every second of this torture.

***

Ricky has never felt so much like an outcast in his life.

The moment he got in the party bus, he knew he was going to hate very second of this night. First of all, he didn't really like this crowd. Second, they were already acting like rowdy football jocks who just won a state championship before noon somehow. And lastly, he was bummed out because he couldn't get Nini out of his head.

Ricky watched the men all sing along to "Sweet Caroline" as they drank beers and downed shots from the outskirts. He can't believe they decided to take a shot every hour purposely trying to get plastered by the end of the day as they headed to the neighboring towns.

Ricky only took the occasional sip of whatever booze someone served him figuring at least one of them had to be sober enough to ensure they get back safe. As the men continued to horribly sing along to classics, Ricky let his mind wonder back to Nini.

He was so lost in thought he didn't realize that someone had sat down beside him.

"You look like you're having fun."

Ricky looks at the person sitting by him and was actually relieved it was just Matt aka the only sane man in this bus besides maybe Derek.

"Oh yeah, I'm having the time of my life."

"Dude why're you so gloomy? We're on a party bus! You should be getting blacked out with us."

"I'm just not that into partying I guess."

"Yeah okay sure."

"What you don't believe me?"

"Come on man, you're clearly upset about something. I saw you moping the whole way here."

"Well your hypothesis is correct."

"Trouble in paradise?"

"How the hell do you know so much?"

"I'm just a good guesser."

"Well yeah Nini and I are going through some shit."

Matt laughed humorlessly. "I can drink to that." He chugged a good portion of his beer.

"Oh are you and Brooklyn going through a rough patch too?"

Matt nods. "She's been kinda been distant for some reason, and when I ask her about it, she just gets angry and storms off."

"Nini runs off when things get tough too."

"It feels like I'm always saying the wrong things to her."

"You can say that again."

"You and I aren't so different at all huh?"

Ricky smiled for the first time in hours. "Yeah it seems like it."

Matt gave him an unopened beer, and Ricky accepted it & took a few sips. They enjoyed the view of the energetic and tipsy men in front of them. 

They both laughed when they went over a speed bump and many of the men toppled over causing Derek to spill his beer on Ethan's shirt.

Ricky couldn't even hide his hearty laugh when Ethan began yelling at Derek for messing up his 120 dollar blouse. 

Okay so maybe this night wasn't going to be that bad.

***

Madison had chosen to start the bachelorette with deep tissue massages the resort provided. Luckily for them, the massage came with eye candy. Not like Nini was paying them any mind.

On a normal occasion if she found out the person who'd be massaging her was a chiseled man with an attractive face and sexy accent, she'd be hella excited. 

But after these past two weeks with Ricky, she can't seem to think about other men. She couldn't even pretend to fangirl over them with the rest of the women.

Brooklyn nudged Nini with a suggestive smile. "Oo look at him; he's gonna be your masseur. You're so lucky! I mean look at the biceps on that man. How does he even get it to look that good?"

Nini made a poker face and shrugged. "Yeah he's cute I guess."

Brooklyn gasped. "I guess?! Honey he's a 100/10, and I'm pretty sure I caught him eyeing you."

Nini still wasn't impressed. "I don't know. I guess he's just not my type."

"You can still look even if you're taken hun, just don't act on it."

Nini rolled her eyes as she walked up to her station. The man smirked at her, and she swears she saw him look her up and down. She sat in the chair, and the man began massaging her shoulders.

"What is a beautiful woman like you doing here on this lovely day?"

Nini made an awkward smile. "Oh um I'm just here for a wedding. This is actually part of the bachelorette."

"Oh how nice! Are you the one getting married?"

Nini blushes at the thought of getting married. "Oh no! Definitely not. At least not anytime soon."

"So you're not seeing anyone?"

"Actually I'm taken." She freezes when she realized how naturally she said that. And you wanna know what the craziest part was? She _meant_ it. And that _terrified_ her.

"What a shame. Whoever stole your heart is a very lucky man, but I'm sure he knows that."

She felt an ache in her heart. She wouldn't necessarily call him lucky. She knew she had tore him down, and that she doesn't deserve his affection.

After the massage, the ladies had gone to get mani pedis and their eyebrows groomed. She couldn't take her mind off of what she said to the masseur. 

Had Ricky really snuck his way into her heart throughout these past two weeks? Or maybe he had been slowly marking his spot in her heart for years now, and it was only recognizable to her now? There was no way of truly telling.

As she watched the petite woman paint her nails white, she started to remember an old childhood memory of her and Ricky. When they were in freshman year, her Momma C had brought her to a nail salon for homecoming.

All of her female friends had already gotten their nails done and her mom couldn't stay, but she really didn't feel like sitting there alone for the next hour or so. Ricky had offered to keep her company despite having no actual reason to be there. 

Nini had tried to convince him he didn't need to stay stating he'd hate the environment and probably could spend his day more fruitfully doing something else. He of course declined and stayed by her side the entire time.

As she expected, he got bored within the first thirty minutes and began nodding off. She had joked and said maybe he should get his nails done too if he were so bored, but she was shocked when his face had lit up at the idea.

He happily hopped in one of the chairs beside her and let Nini decide what colors to get so they can match since he was her date. She laughed as she watched how amazed and slightly uncomfortable he was when he was getting a manicure. 

They took a bunch of pictures together with their matching nails, and Ricky would show them off to anyone that'd give him the attention. 

She always adored his fuck toxic masculinity attitude. God she'd give anything to go back to their simpler times before she created this mess.

She felt a tang in her heart and tried to hold back her tears. Her face must've given her true feelings away because she saw Madison look at her concerned. 

"Nini, are you alright?"

Nini prints a fake smile and nods hoping she didn't notice her lie. "Yeah, I'm good. Just day dreaming."

Madison didn't buy it, but knew she wasn't going to open up about it. "Right, day dreaming."

***

The men had gone to a race track (not the best idea with men who've been drinking nonstop for hours, but at least they're not driving on the actual road) and had went to an escape room (also not the best with drunk men who couldn't even read the instructions without getting dizzy).

The night had ended with an extravagant strip club that looked like something in a movie scene. I guess Ricky shouldn't have been surprised Ethan booked an overpriced strip club since he had done something similar for his own bachelor party two years prior.

Ricky was never too fond of strip clubs usually disgusted by the way the customers (usually unfaithful self-entitled men) treated the performers like meat instead of humans. He watched as the rest of the bachelor party happily received dances from the women in which some were enjoying maybe a little too much.

Ricky witnessed Ethan talking up one of the strippers as she danced on him. He rolled his eyes and gave him a repulsed look. He was being way too handsy with her for a taken man. Ricky watched as Ethan whispered something in the woman's ear making her giggle, but unbeknownst to Ethan she had reached in his pocket and stole a few bucks from him.

Ricky couldn't fight the smile that appeared on his face. Normally, he would've called her out. Since it was Ethan, aka the scummiest human he personally knows that treats his current girlfriend and Ricky's best friend like disposable beings, he didn't intervene.

He felt a delicate hand rub his shoulder. "Hi handsome, would you like a lap dance?" A tall brunette asked as she began trailing down his chest. He stopped her hands suddenly feeling out of place.

"Actually, I'm good. I was about to go get some air anyways. Thanks though." He quickly gets up and heads to the main entrance.

When he felt the cold breeze of the night hit his face, he felt himself relax. The stuffiness of that club was beginning to get to him. Despite being surrounded by gorgeous women for the past hour, he couldn't stop thinking about the woman who dominated almost every part of his brain.

He wondered what she was doing, and if she was having fun or maybe not since after all it is Madison's friends she's with. He wondered if she was thinking about him just as much as he was about her. 

Suddenly feeling a wave of confidence, he whipped out his phone and pulled out her contact. Right when he was about to press the call button, he froze. Maybe it wasn't the best idea to call her.

Who knows if she'd even bother to pick up? Besides, she was busy with the bachelorette, and he probably was the last person she wanted to hear from at the moment. He sighed in defeat and decided to look at his home screen, which was a picture of them from the day he realized he loved her.

He smiled as he looked at himself because he hadn't noticed until now how lovingly he was gazing at her. She had been so oblivious to his yearning due to her looking at the camera instead of at him. He was curious if he had always looked at her in that way all these years without knowing.

The door of the club sprung open and an excited and tipsy Matt came out. "Dude, I've been looking for you everywhere! What're you doing out here? The party is inside."

"Oh sorry, I just needed some fresh air. It got a little overwhelming in there."

"Well are you done? Because you've gotta see this man. Derek got so drunk that he got on the stage with the strippers and challenged them to see who was sexier. The security and performers have been trying to get him down, but he keeps fighting back. I've been dying of laughter for a solid five minutes. I refuse to let him forget this. Come on!"

Though he had no desire to go back in this facility, he had to admit that an intoxicated dancing Derek sounded like something worth beholding. He took one last fleeting look at his screen before smiling cheekily at Matt.

"I'll get my camera ready."

***

The women had gone to a bar that was actually pretty casual compared to most of the places Madison usually went to. It was very similar to the one she had taken Ricky to when she was trying to persuade him to come here. Ugh there she goes again thinking of Ricky for the millionth time.

Madison and the rest of the party were all currently taking as many shots they could stomach as they giggled uncontrollably about things that definitely weren't that funny. Nini who had been the most sober of the group wanted to have a breather, so she went to the bar alone ordering a single beer as she let her thoughts take over.

A chair pulled out next to her, and she groaned. Before she even looked at whoever dared to sit by her when there are so many empty seats, she mentally prepared to reject some drunken asshole that was most likely going to try to hit on her.

"I'm not interested. Move along." She says not even sparing the person a look.

A female laughed. "Don't worry, girls aren't exactly my cup of tea. Well except for that one time in college. I wonder how Ally's doing. I'll have to call her."

She turned her head and began blushing from embarrassment when she realized it was just Brooklyn. "Fuck, I'm sorry. I'm just so used to men trying their best to get me to sleep with them at places like these."

Brooklyn chuckles with a hiccup coming out soon after. "It's fine! Happens to the best of us." She struggled as she climbed into the seat. "I couldn't help but notice you were isolating yourself again. What is it this time?"

Nini huffed and took a sip of her beer. "Who do you think?"

"Awe the infamous Ricky. Did he say something that upset you again?"

Nini shook her head as her face fell slightly. "No, I'm the one to blame. I always am. I'm so bad at the whole relationship thing. It must be a curse."

Brooklyn raised her glass. "Cheers to that sis." She downs her umpteenth shot of the night. "You know I'm having dude problems too."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, Matt and I have been pretty hostile with each other recently. Sometimes I'd even storm out."

"Sorry to hear that."

"You know, it sucks cuz I actually had just gotten out of a messy and toxic relationship right before meeting Matt when I was in the Salt Lake region." 

"Wait are you from Salt Lake too? How have I not seen you until now?"

"Oh no, I'm a Californian to the core. I just so happened to have been in Salt Lake for a while because my ex lived there, and that's where I met Matt."

Before Nini could ask more questions, a series of wolf whistles and cheers could be heard from the bachelorette table. A few male strippers had arrived one; dressed as a sexy fireman and the other a pizza delivery man.

"Oo finally the night is getting interesting. Come on Nini, we don't wanna miss the show!"

Before she could resist, Brooklyn was pulling her towards the men.

***

By midnight, the men had been so far gone and tired that it was mandatory for them to return to their hotel rooms. Ricky being the only one who was sober enough the entire night had helped every single member to their rooms making sure they were laying on their sides in case they vomit.

The last man he helps was unfortunately Ethan who had been the second most trashed of the bachelor party right behind Derek. He honestly debated on even helping him, but his good samaritan side kicked in and dragged his body to his room. 

If Ethan was this heavy, he can't imagine how heavy he was when Nini had to carry him to their room the other night. Ethan had been spitting out random mumbles and nonsense that Ricky had paid no attention to.

When they finally arrived at his door, Ricky opened the door for him and was about to walk him to his bed until Ethan gripped Ricky's shirt. Ethan pulls his collar down until they're eye level.

"I know your secret." Ethan evilly laughed before slamming his door and blacking out on the floor. 

Ricky feels his soul leave his body. What the hell did he mean he knew his secret? Did he find out they weren't dating, or maybe some other secret he didn't even know was out there?

He can't handle this right now. He needs to take his mind off of all the drama that has occurred, and he knew exactly how. He's gonna get drunk. 

He had gone down to one of the bars that was 24 hours at the hotel and ordered as many shots as he could. Anything was better than feeling the growing anxiety and heartbreak he was going through even if it was only for a few hours. 

When his head began to spin, he figured he should find a quieter area to rest that wasn't his hotel room because he knew she was there. He stumbled until he found an empty lounge area carrying one of the beers he had ordered.

He accidentally unlocks his phone and is greeted by that damned home screensaver. He squinted at her face. Instead of longing like he did earlier, he felt more angry. He wouldn't even be here if it weren't for her. He wouldn't be experiencing the worst heartache he's ever encountered.

His drunken mind had given him a boost of encouragement, and his fingers pressed the call button on her contact. 

He listened as the phone rang and realized that he had no idea what he planned on saying. He just knew he had a bone to pick with her, and dammit she was gonna listen to it.

_This is Nini! Leave a message and I may or may not call you back. Bye!_

He laughed humorlessly and began choking up. 

"I shouldn't even be shocked that you didn't pick up. You recently have been so good at ignoring me, and I wouldn't be surprised if you purposely let this go to voicemail. But I need to get this off my chest, so here it goes. I can't stop thinking about you, or I guess I should say us. I get it if you don't wanna be with me. Really, that's fine by me. I'd rather pretend this whole trip didn't exist than not talk to you. But I don't understand why you can't even look me in the eye anymore. I hate that you keep running away from me because I know we're supposed to be together forever. And when you walked out of that door yesterday, you broke my heart in ways I didn't even know it could be broken. I'm so stuck on you Nini, and I don't think I'll ever feel this way about someone again."

He took a deep breath and sniffles as he took a seat on the closest couch. "I'm rambling nonsense, and you probably think I'm crazy now, so I'm gonna hang up before I can make myself sound even more like an idiot. Goodnight Neens."

He hung up, laid down on the lounge couch, and let his exhaustion take over.

***

Nini got back to the room around 2 am and was shocked to see Ricky wasn't there yet. She thought it was odd considering the fact that the men had gotten back a lot sooner than them according to Madison.

She plugged in her dead phone and got into her pjs. She thought that maybe he was just being distant like he had been earlier, which is completely understandable. 

She probably was the absolute last person he felt like seeing tonight anyways. Who knew when he'd come strolling in? He ended up popping up last time anyways. Choosing not to let it consume her thoughts, she lulled off into a slumber hoping for a smooth day tomorrow.

But we all know the universe is a cruel, cruel place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is the definition of no ❤️
> 
> Next chapter is probably the most important chapter out of all of them! Can’t believe there’s only two left!


	11. I Can Hear the Bells

_Nini was walking through one of the most breathtaking meadows she's ever seen. The meadow looked like it was straight out of a fantasy movie with its mythical environment and gorgeous geography. The sound of a harp can be heard gently playing throughout the meadow._

_She looks down and realizes she's in a poofy white dress that she doesn't remember putting on or better yet owning. The flower crown Ricky had bought her was on her head. After she stopped admiring the beautiful scenery, she realized that she had no idea where she was or how she got here._

_"Hello?"_

_Her voice startled a few nearby animals behind the taller grasses. She began walking aimlessly trying to find someone who could direct her. As if on cue, a luminous blue butterfly flew on her hand. She quickly recalled it being the same one she saw at the harbor and when she comforted Madison._

_"Hey little guy! Nice to see you again. Now I know for a fact you're following me."_

_Suddenly, the butterfly flew away, but something in Nini's gut told her she needed to follow it._

_"Hey, come back here!"_

_She chased after the insect somehow not falling in the lengthy dress. When she finally picks up enough speed, she is was able to catch it with her hands. She smiled down at it victoriously._

_"Gotcha!"_

_She heard the sound of rustling coming from the grass and shoots her head up to see who it was. She felt her heart skip a beat when she saw the odd figure in front of her._

_A tall man dressed in an all white tuxedo with a blurry face had stood with his hands in his pockets. For some reason, he had a foggy mist covering his identity which alerted her a little._

_"Um hi?"_

_He took a few steps closer, and she wanted to run because he gave off such an eerie vibe, but something told her to stay. After all, maybe he could explain this weird situation._

_"Do you know how I got here and how to get back?"_

_The man nods._

_"I have freedom from hate, but not from lies. I'm usually seen through clouded eyes. I come unexpected, though you wait for me all your life. I can't be brought yet some people try. What am I?"_

_Nini rose a brow. "What? I don't know. I'm not that good at riddles."_

_The man stepped a little closer. "What am I Nina?"_

_The deepening of his voice intimidated her. He pulled out his hands from his pockets surprising her by revealing that he had a flutter of luminous blue butterflies._

_Before she can react, he blew all the butterflies in her face causing her to frantically shoo them away._

Nini sprung up from her bed breathing as if she just ran a marathon. She sighed in relief when she realized it was all just some weird dream.

"The hell?"

She looks at his side of the bed and noticed he's not here. Then she looked at the couch, but there was still no sign of him. The bathroom light was off, so he wasn't in there. She looked at the outlet and noticed his phone wasn't plugged in, which means he's not home.

But this time, she didn't really understand. It was wedding day and there was nowhere to be at this hour, so where would he go? It just wasn't adding up. She walked over to the couch and noticed there were no creases and his pillow and blanket were never used. Okay now she was a little worried.

There is no place for him to sleep besides here unless he bunked with someone or for some reason crashed at a another hotel. Both options were so unlikely though due to the fact that he didn't have enough cash to pay for hotels in this area, and he doesn't like any of the other guest.

She sped walked to her phone to see if he had left any messages. She was stunned to see he had called her and left a minute long voicemail. She opened her phone and began playing his message.

_"I shouldn't even be shocked that you didn't pick up. You recently have been so good at ignoring me..."_

As she listened to him, she felt her eyes well up. He had no idea he was feeling like this, and she felt like a horrible person for making the guy that was always there for her break down. She was hoping by the end of the call he'd at least say where he was and that he was fine, but he didn't.

He was clearly drunk, but there was no telling which bar or club he was at. She hopes he's not in any danger. She goes to his contact and calls him, but he doesn't pick up. She dials his number a few more times, and he still didn't pick up.

Now she was in panic mode. All of the possible worse case scenarios rolled through her head all at once. What if his phone got stolen? What if he's lost? What if he's too drunk to even function? What if he was- no she wouldn't even let herself finish that one.

She begins to throw on whatever clothes she can find to go search for him until she hears the door open. In came a disgruntled Ricky that looked like he had just come from hell and back. 

He didn't even seem to notice she was there as he walked like a zombie to the couch.

"Where the hell have you been?!"

He was unsettled by her sudden outburst, and it didn't help his hangover.

"Can you not scream at me right now? My head is pounding."

"Good! You deserve it. Why didn't you pick up the phone? I called you ten times!"

He rolled his eyes. "Sorry I didn't realize you cared."

She scoffs. "What? Of course I care you're my best friend Ricky! I didn't know if you were safe or not! Hell, you could've been dead for all I know!"

He holds his arms out and spins around in a circle. "Look, I'm completely fine and alive, so you can rest now."

"Don't get smart with me! I was really concerned about you. I mean I know we're in a fight, but I don't want you to get hurt especially if it were because of me." She started to tear up.

He lets his guard down a bit not expecting her to say that. "Why would it be your fault?"

"Because I heard the voicemail you left me last night and by the sounds of it, you were really pissed at me."

He cringes at the fuzzy memory of him spilling his guts out to her over the phone. He thought that maybe he dreamt that, but I guess not.

"Yeah about that, feel free to just ignore that. I was so out of it."

"I don't think I could ever truly ignore it, but if you're not ready to talk about it then I understand."

They meet eyes for the first time in two days, and he almost broke down when he saw how distressed she looked. She has probably been beating herself up this entire time despite not everything being her fault.

"I'm sorry I scared you."

She wiped a tear from her face. She walked up to him and held his hand. He felt electricity shoot through his veins just at the sensation of her touching him.

"And I'm sorry for breaking your heart."

They stay there looking at each other trying to decide what's the next move. 

"You should probably get a little rest. We have an hour to kill before we need to get dressed. I'm not going back to sleep, so feel free to take the bed. I can only imagine how much your back aches from the couch."

He nodded. "Yeah I should probably do that." He gave her hand a little squeeze, which was their secret way of saying they're going to be okay before walking to the bed. 

"Ricky?"

"Yeah?"

She faintly grinned. "I've missed you...a lot."

Ricky smiled back. "Me too Neens."

Though the words weren't said, they both knew that for the moment they were civil. 

***

The bridesmaids hurriedly prepared their last little touch ups as they tried to keep the bride as happy and tame as possible. Madison had gone full bridezilla a few times already, which was what Nini was expecting.

The others all had been comforting her ensuring everything would go smoothly. Nini on the other hand had been blankly staring into the mirror in front of her preoccupied with her best friend on her mind.

Even though they were mostly on good terms right now, they had a lot to discuss. This morning had really shown her that he could leave her life forever without a proper goodbye and on bad terms. Sure he ended up being okay, but what if he wasn't?

Their last ever conversation would've been a bad memory, and it'd be her fault for driving him away because she doesn't know how to face her feelings. That's what haunted her the most. 

"Woah there Neens, you might wanna ease up on your grip. You might end up piercing through your skin and messing up your dress!" Bethany says taking a seat next to her.

Nini looked down at her hands and noticed she had been digging her nails into her palms without knowing. She already saw the bruises beginning to form and mentally scolded herself for being so careless.

"Oh thanks."

Bethany gave her a worried look. "Hey is everything alright? You seem distracted."

Nini began tending to her minor wounds. "I'm not gonna lie to you Bethany I'm far from okay. I'm gonna put on a brave face, smile through all the pictures, and pretend to be happy as I walk down the aisle, but deep down inside I'm so fucking tired of putting on a show to please others. Also, I'm sick of disappointing people constantly. It's almost like I'm incapable of making decisions you know?"

Bethany placed her hand on Nini's shoulder. "I think I do actually. I'm not sure what the context of your problem is, but I think it has to do with Ricky right?"

Nini nodded not meeting her eye. Bethany started to put the pieces together as much as she could. "You think you're disappointing Ricky?" Nini nodded again.

"I'm not confident why you believe that, but I do know this for sure. That man adores you; he practically worships the ground you walk on. I wish you could see the way he looks at you when you're not paying attention. Even if you think you're disappointing him, I feel like he would reason with you if you explained. Hopefully I'm helping."

Nini gives her an appreciative smile. "It actually did; thank you. You're far too sweet for your own good."

"Yeah well I try. After all, I definitely know what it's like to let down your significant other."

"You can do so much better Bethany."

Bethany frowns and looks as if she's about to say something but was interrupted by the wedding planner telling the girls to be ready to walk in less than five minutes.

Bethany hopped up from her seat. "Better go! I'd hate to see bridezilla yell at us...again."

"Yeah I'll catch up."

Bethany gave her one last smile before scurrying out the door with the rest of the bridesmaids. Nini looked at herself in the mirror and put on a fake smile. 

"It's showtime."

***

The wedding party all got in line ready for their signal to start walking.

Nini and Ricky had been awkwardly standing next to each other trying not to look at one another. She couldn't stand this weird hindrance between them. Not willing to carry on like this, she turned her head up at him and nudged his shoulder.

"Look I know we have a lot to talk about later, but for now can we at least pretend like there are no problems between us? Just live life in pink for a few hours for the sake of both the wedding and our own sanities. Also, this walking around eggshells thing is getting a little out of hand don't you think?"

"Yeah it has." 

"Great, so we're on the same page?"

He nods. "Yeah I think I can do that."

"Good."

When they met eyes, their lips slowly formed a smile. He interlaced their fingers together, and she squeezed his hand. It felt like they were steadily becoming old Ricky and Nini again, and it felt like coming home for them both. 

"It's really nice talking to you again Neens."

"Yeah I've missed hearing your voice, even your loud snores you'd make when we were sleeping in bed."

He makes a mock offended face. "Excuse me miss, but I do not snore."

She huffs, "Sure Jan."

"You're one to talk miss I talk full monologues in my sleep."

"I do not!"

"I once heard you recite all of the ingredients to your Lola's brownies. How the hell do you even remember something that long? I was impressed."

"You know what's weird? I actually can't remember it when I'm awake."

"Well your memory hasn't always been the best."

She shoves his arm and he begins to laugh. She secretly loved hearing him laugh again and their banter. She missed it. She missed them. 

She released their hands and locked their arms. She rested her head on his arm and closed her eyes enjoying his company. She felt his hand sit on top of hers occasionally caressing her with his thumb.

"Everybody get ready! We're heading down the aisle now!" The wedding planner yells.

The doors of the auditorium open wide and all eyes are on the bridesmaids and groomsmen as they make their way down the aisle. Nini could hear some whispers from some of the guest talking about her and Ethan's wedding. 

She rolled her eyes; she had a feeling at least a few people would bring it up since both of them were part of the wedding party. When they split off to their spots in the front, Nini missed his presence. 

She had been yearning for his touch the past two days, especially since she got a little taste of him. It felt like the universe was teasing her by placing him a few feet away from her for the next 30 minutes.

The actual service had been pretty boring to her. Madison had added more for the priest to say, and Nini had to hide her laugh when there was a segment talking about her and Derek's financial accomplishments as way of bragging because it was such a Madison move. 

Nini actually tuned in when she began saying her vows. She was amazed how heartfelt her words actually were not expecting her to write something so vulnerable and pure in front of the guest. 

Nini looked over at Ricky and saw he was already looking at her. She tuned out the rest of the world as she set all of her focus on him. She felt her heart warm up, and for a moment she lets herself wonder what it'd be like to be in a white dress with him across from her. 

She wonders if she'd be saying similar words of adoration for him the way Madison was for Derek. She wonders if in another life time, they could've been each others happily ever afters.

He gives her a friendly smile, and she wanted nothing more than to run in his arms. She didn't notice how long she had been admiring him until the sound of cheers and whistles erupted throughout the chapel.

She joined the applause as she watched the newly weds walk back down the aisle hand in hand. She got excited when she realized she'd be by Ricky's side very soon. The wedding party all got in the formation they rehearsed as they followed behind the couple.

Nini beamed when she finally got to wrap her arm around his not even hiding her happiness. 

***

The reception had been pretty lively with hundreds of people chatting amongst themselves. Ricky and Nini had been seated at the same table as Brooklyn, Matt, Bethany, and Ethan. 

Brooklyn had been getting absolutely trashed on whatever liquor she could get her hands on making the occasional text to whomever, which would result in Matt rolling his eyes. Bethany had been talking to one of the other women at the table while Ethan had been smirking at Ricky and Nini as if he knew something they didn't. 

Ricky admitted it had been making him feel very uncomfortable. He still wondered what secret Ethan had been talking about last night, but he didn't think it involved him and Nini. 

Usually, he would've been quick to call people out when he found some dirt on them, so what the hell did Ethan know? He decided to push it aside for now and focus on the girl under his arms.

"The ceremony was beautiful and all, but if it were up to me I would've recreated Jim and Pam's iconic wedding dance down the aisle. I feel like it's much more engaging."

Nini chuckled. "I'm pretty sure your future wife wouldn't be on board with that, but I gotta admit that I would totally be okay with that."

"If my future wife doesn't agree with that, then she's not the one."

"I can't argue with that."

The wedding planner had gone up to the mic and tapped on it. "Time for the newly weds to have their first dance together!"

The couple made their way to the dance floor while the rest of the guest circled around them. Ricky and Nini stood by one another hands barely grazing each other as they marveled at the couple slow dancing. 

"Everyone can now join the newly weds!" The wedding planner announces. 

Ricky held out his hand for her to take. "Milady."

She beamed as she took his hand and let him guide them to the dance floor. He wrapped his arms completely around her frame and pulled her to his chest leaving no space between them. She coiled her arms around his neck playing with some of his curls like she used to as they swayed to the music. 

"We never gotta chance to catch up on the past two days. How was the bachelorette?"

"To be honest, I dreaded the entire thing. I was too caught up thinking about us."

He vaguely smiled. "Oh yeah? That's funny cuz I was thinking about you too."

"Even though we were in a fight, I found it more soothing to think about you than pay attention to the hectic environment around me."

Ricky smirked. "Let me guess, you were traumatized by drunks and strippers too?"

"Oh my god, you too? Man what is up with this group getting blacked out?"

"I don't know, but you gotta admit watching them act out is a little funny."

They both laughed as they danced to the melody. The part where they switch partners came, and Nini hated releasing herself from him especially knowing who her next partner was going to be.

Cold arms gently wrapped their arms around her waist, and her happy demeanor quickly turns sour at the sight of his smug face.

"Nina."

"Ethan."

"You look stunning."

"I don't want to really talk about my looks with you."

"Fine. I have something more vital to discuss anyways."

"Oh this is gonna be rich."

"Look Nini, you might here some...upsetting news, but I'm not sure."

Nini rose her brow. She detested that she was actually curious what he was talking about. "What're you talking about?"

Ethan looks around as if someone could be listening in, which mildly alerted her. 

"You have to trust me okay? Someone here will probably spill some info that's going to fluster or floor you. I just wanna give you a heads up."

She scoffed and pushed him away. "Trust you?! Don't make me laugh Ethan. I haven't trusted you in years." She begins walking back to Ricky before Ethan grips her wrist.

"Watch your back Nina."

She snatched her hand out of his hand and went back to Ricky. "Hey Bethany, mind if we switch back?"

"No problem!" Bethany walks back to Ethan while Nini hugged Ricky for comfort. He immediately knew she was upset and held her close. 

"What'd that dick say this time?"

"Don't worry about it; I don't even wanna amuse him tonight. I just wanna try to go one full day without drama." 

"If you're not bothered by it, than neither am I."

"Let's just dance."

"Anything you want Neens."

As he rocked them to the beat, she couldn't help but wonder what on earth Ethan was referring to. 

***

A little after the hors d'oeuvres, Nini had gotten a headache due to all the music and excused herself to the hallway. When she went in the what she thought was empty hall, she saw Brooklyn sitting against the wall with a glass of champagne in her hand. 

She had looked dead inside, and Nini hated seeing someone who was usually so full of life like this. She walked over to her and sat beside her.

Brooklyn slowly looked at her and sighed. "Hey Nini."

"Hey." Nini can smell a strong scent of champagne in her breath and a little on her clothes. 

"What brings you over here?" She slurs. 

"Well it's hard to ignore how you've been purposely getting plastered all night. Mind telling me why?"

Brooklyn looks at her with a completely blank expression before snickering in a villainous manner. "You know, I'm starting to understand his appeal to you Nini. You're sweet, and I'm not. I guess that's his type." She laughed as she drank more champagne. 

Nini was confused by her comment. "Who're you talking about, Ricky?"

Brooklyn scoffs. "No sweetheart, I'm referring to Ethan."

Nini was even more lost than before. "W-what? What does he have to do with this? Also he doesn't love me anymore. He definitely proved that when he abandoned me at the alter."

Brooklyn rolled her eyes. "Oh contraire, speaking of the wedding. Wanna know the real reason he left you at the alter?"

Nini didn't really know if she did want to know the reason, but Brooklyn carried on anyways.

"It's because he felt guilty for sleeping with me behind your back."

Nini felt the soul leave her body. No. There was no way this was real life.

"What?!"

"Yeah we had been sleeping with each other for weeks before your big day and even at his bachelor party. I guess he felt too guilty, so he felt it was best to just strand you than explain."

Nini put a hand over her mouth trying to make sense of this new info. Was this the bad news Ethan was trying to warn her about? Because this was much worse than she could've imagined.

"I don't believe this."

"Believe it sis. You know what's even more fucked? I'm in love with the bastard despite him being head over heels for you and kicking me to the curve fresh after he left you. I still chase after him even though he's toxic for me. Talk about a Harley and the Joker relationship."

Nini was starting to put the pieces together. She remembers her saying she met Matt after a messy relationship when she was in Salt Lake. "Holy shit, when we were on the beach after the competitions you said he couldn't even commit to the perfect woman standing right in front of him. You were talking about yourself not me weren't you?"

Brooklyn smirked and winked at her. "Oo look at you miss perfect, you're finally catching on. I'm perfect for him, and yet he still keeps pining after you. Hell the only reason I even started dating Matt was because I wanted to make him jealous, but it didn't work since you brought that bushy headed dude with you. He barely even looked at me."

Nini felt tears well up in her eyes. She rested her head in her hands. Brooklyn sighed and placed her hand on Nini's shoulder. "If it means anything, I felt bad for ruining your wedding especially after getting to know you these passed few days. But I don't feel bad for being the other woman since Ethan and I are meant for each other."

Nini smacked Brooklyn's hand off and got up to stand over her. "You know what? You two are _perfect_ for each other. By the way, Matt deserves way better than some back stabbing bitch like you. Go to hell Brooklyn." Nini snatches her glass and pours it on Brooklyn's face. 

Brooklyn seemed to have sobered up at the cold sensation, but she said nothing back fully knowing she deserved every second of it.

Nini runs off to find some place to recollect her thoughts. This was too much to soak in. She finds a desolate ballroom that was dusty and had an old classical piano in it. She storms to the instrument and began angrily pressing the keys too angry to try to play an actual melody. 

She just needed to release her anger out on something. She started off with aggressively playing keys until pressing became pounding her fist on the innocent piano. She let out a loud sob as she slammed her elbows down in the midsection resting her head in her palms.

She couldn't believe someone who pretended to be her friend was actually her worse enemy. She was probably worse than Ethan since he never pretended to be a kind hearted person. 

"Nini?"

She doesn't bother to see who it was too defeated to care. She heard the person walk towards her and hoped it wasn't Ethan or Brooklyn because she just might let her emotions get the best of her.

"Nini, holy fuck what happened?"

She removed one of her palms off her face and was delighted to see it was Ricky. She jumped into his arms and began balling her eyes out. He stroked through her hair patiently waiting for her to explain. They ended up staying in that room for a solid five minutes before she could even speak coherently.

She takes her head off his chest to look him in the eye. "I'm ready to talk now."

He wipes away some of the tears. "I'm all ears Neens."

"I found out why Ethan left me at the alter..." She sniffled a few times. "Apparently he had an affair with Brooklyn the night before our wedding and a few weeks leading up to it. He felt bad, so he bailed. I can't believe they'd do this to me. Was I not good enough for him?"

Ricky's blood boiled with pure rage. That son of a bitch not only abandoned her, but also cheated on her? And to put the cherry on top he made Nini question if she was the problem. No, he wasn't going to let this man walk free.

Ricky presses a kiss on her forehead before steadily getting up from his seat. She saw the look in his eyes and noticed it was the same wrathful expression he had on her wedding day. 

"Stay here."

She knew exactly what he was planning on doing. He quickly stormed out of the room, and she shot up from her seat to chase after him. "Ricky! Don't he's not worth it!"

He didn't slow down far too pissed to even reconsider his choice despite her protests. She eventually caught up to him and tried pulling him back, but it was pointless. 

When he barged into the ballroom, he found Ethan dancing with Bethany. Madison saw how pissed off he looked and was scared of whatever he was about to do next.

"Ricky you're gonna get in trouble!"

"It's worth it."

He unclasped her grip on his blazer and marched over to Ethan. He yanks Ethan away from Bethany and grabs him by his collar with both hands. Ethan was completely taken aback and others began to crowd around him. 

"Dude, what the h-

Ricky kneed him right in the gut mid sentence causing him to curl up. Other guest gasped in fear. "Ow what the fuck man?!"

Ricky wasn't satisfied yet. He stood him up straight and decked him in the jaw causing him to fall to the floor. Even more gasp erupted at how graphic the sight was. He had made his mouth bleed. Bethany got on her knees to help him. "Ricky, what the hell was that for?"

Nini pulled on his arm trying her best to drag him away. "Come on, we can just leave." He didn't move a muscle. 

"Oh you wanna know why I punched this fucking asshole? Well let me tell you exactly why this piece of shit deserves exactly what he got." He looks at the crowd and points at him. "This prick right here not only left my best friend at the alter humiliating her. No, he did much worse. He cheated on her the night before they were supposed to get married with Brooklyn."

Everyone was in disbelief and stared at either Ethan or Brooklyn in disgust or shock. Bethany was shook to her core. Ethan wiped the blood from his face and tried his best to get up. He glared daggers at Ricky before turning his attention to Madison. 

"What the hell Madison? I said I needed more time to tell her!"

Nini looked at Madison in betrayal. Madison gave Ethan an annoyed face. "You moron, I didn't tell her!"

"Then who did?"

Brooklyn slowly rose her hand. "That would be me. I may have drank too many of these. You know how they make me really honest. Oh by the way, Ethan is totally still in love Nini!"

Another wave of gasp were heard. Bethany began tearing up as she looks down at her boyfriend. "Is it true?"

Ethan sighed and nodded. "Yeah, I'm so sorry Bethany." 

She wiped away some of her tears. "I'm such a fool." She got up and stormed out of the ballroom.

Nini still hasn't stopped staring at her cousin. She realized that she was the mysterious woman at the zoo.

"Madison how could you not tell me."

Madison looked at her with sympathetic eyes. "Nini, I'm so sorry I didn't say anything."

"And to think we were finally getting along. I thought you had my back."

"Nini, please..."

"How long have you known?"

Madison drops her eyes to the floor in shame. "I found out a few weeks before your wedding."

Nini felt her heart break even more. "You knew before my wedding and didn't warn me?! I can't even look at you right now."

"Since we're spilling secrets now, I've been biting my tongue far too long." He smirks evilly and points at him and Nini. "These two so called lovebirds have been faking their relationship. I overheard Madison and Nini talking a few days ago where she admitted it."

Nini shook her head in disgust. "God, you're such a dick."

He shrugged. "I may be a dick, but at least I ain't a liar."

Ricky squinted. "Dude, shut the fuck up!"

"Of course you're protecting her again with your damn knight in shining armor attitude! You're just as much of a filthy liar as her. I bet you faked everything."

"I love her!"

The ballroom went completely silent. Ricky's face went white when he realized what he just announced to the entire party. _Fuck._

He turns to look at Nini who looked just as spooked as the others did. "Nini..."

A new set of tears began rolling down her face. She slowly started backing away from him until she turns around and books it out of the door. 

"Nini!"

He pushes through the crowd trying to get to her. When he finally catches up to her at the exit, he grabs her wrist causing her to look at him. 

"Wait Neens, I'm sorry I didn't mean to tell you like that."

"I-I can't do this right now."

"Can't do what?"

"I need time to process everything that's happened. To process Ethan. Process Madison. Process you. It's too damn much. I need more space to calm down."

"Where are you going?"

"I don't know probably the hotel. I just can't stay in this godforsaken place any longer." She looked at him and already knew what he was thinking.

She got on her tippy toes and planted a soft kiss on his lips. "It's not you. It never has been." She gave him a doting hug before running out of the building into the warm night air.

His eyes water as he mentally replays the words he so desperately wanted to say before she left. 

_Stay._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was trying to give very subtle hints Brooklyn was the bad guy throughout the story. If you read her previous lines very closely knowing she's bad, you can see she's always been the antagonist. 
> 
> Can't believe there's only one chapter left! It makes me so sad that it's gonna end, but all good things have to end right?


	12. Play Time is Over

The following morning was the most tense one of them all for everyone.

Nini had went straight to her hotel room and cried her eyes out releasing all of her pent up emotions. She balled until she had no tears left to cry. When she had no more energy left, she let herself fall asleep too drained to even reflect on all of the events of tonight.

While she was deep in her much deserved sleep, Ricky came in at 11 pm as quietly as he could. He had left the reception a few minutes after Nini had jotted out not wanting to be surrounded by all of these horrible people. 

Since he knew she needed space, he avoided going to the hotel. Instead he decided to roam the streets of Mexico trying to detoxify and ponder on what the future had in store for him and Nini.

He still wasn't sure where they stood since they still never got a chance to discuss their little hiatus, and it seemed like they wouldn't be able to anytime soon with this new information.

He gently sat down on the bed to check on her. He could see the stains from her tears on her cheeks and smeared makeup had gotten on some of her clothes and the sheets. Despite how broken she looked, he still found her beautiful. He reached over and gave her a faint peck on the cheek before undressing and retiring to the couch.

In the morning, Ricky and Nini packed in silence as they got ready for their flight back to Salt Lake. Both would sneak glances at the other behind their back. 

When they were done packing, they had bumped into some of the wedding party on their way out. Ricky had sneered at Ethan as they walked by, but smirked when he saw the purple bruise on his face. It seemed like he had another bruise near his eye that must've come from someone else.

While they were checking out, Madison and Nini made eye contact from the distance. Madison had an apologetic look in her eyes, but Nini was having none of it. Madison started walking towards her, but Nini swiftly made her way to the exit with Ricky following after. 

Madison began sprinting towards them as they got in the airport taxi. 

"Nini, wait!"

Nini was half way threw the door and scowled at her. "What?"

Madison blushed and her lip quivered. "I'm just...I'm so sorry."

Nini kept a blank face and slammed the door on her. She was at the point where sorry just wasn't going to cut it for what she did to her.

Ricky worriedly looked at her. He wanted to hold her hand, but he wasn't sure how she'd react to his touch so he restrained himself. 

"Are you okay?"

She looked straight ahead and shook her head. "Far from it."

He was gonna leave it at that, but then he felt her wrap her pinky around his. He had questions, but he didn't say anything as they rode in silence for the rest of the drive.

They were too scared of looking at each other the entire flight, which was hard considering they were sitting right beside each other for a few hours. When they landed, they stayed a good distance from one another as they patiently awaited their bags.

As they walked to the entrance of the airport, Ricky began searching for an Uber.

"Actually, I'm gonna ride alone if you don't mind."

His heart ached. Was she that desperate to get away from him? 

"Oh, okay..."

He stayed until her driver arrived wanting to make sure she got in safe. Right before she gets in the car, she looks at Ricky. 

"We'll talk later."

He slightly grins. "Okay."

She briefly glances down at his lips and appears as if she wanted to say something else, but she doesn't. He shuts the door for her and waves as she rolls away. When he's out of sight, she hugs herself and silently cried in the back seat the entire ride home.

***

They don't talk for a full two weeks.

Nini was in shambles. She knew she was in the wrong for not reaching out whenever she said she would. Sometimes she'd stare at her phone trying to work up the nerve to call him, but she'd chicken out. 

She was aware she is the reason their friendship has been tarnished forever. She knew that the longer she waited to talk to him, the harder it was going to be. But what the hell was she gonna say? There was so much to unpack, and she had no idea where to start.

Her poor mental state had started to consume her, and it was hard not to notice. She was barely motivated to song write, and when she did it was only doleful songs about heartbreak or regrets. She also was less involved in producing any of the music at her studio. 

When she wasn't at work, she stayed home and lounged around her house letting her depression consume her. Her appetite was basically gone and she slept for longer hours making no time for any of her friends.

Of course, her friends began to worry about her when she didn't reply to any of their texts or calls for the past two weeks. 

They weren't informed what happened at the wedding yet, but it was clear something traumatic had happened. She hasn't been this distant since her own failed wedding.

When she didn't respond to any of their texts on a Friday evening, the group chat all decided to intervene. Kourtney had banged on the door.

"Nini? It's Kourtney and the rest of the group. Are you home?"

Nini groaned and turned up the volume on the TV, which they could hear clearly. 

Kourtney knocked again. "Nini, we know you're in there. We just wanna talk."

Nini didn't budge as she clutched onto her pillow even tighter.

Kourtney sighed as she pulled out her spare key to Nini's apartment. "Alright, I hope you're decent because ready or not here we come."

When she opened the door, the gang all gasped at the sight in front of them. There had been clothes everywhere, unwashed dishes in the sink, and there were no lights on except for the TV. Nini was lying on her side on the couch looking as pale as ever. This was extremely out of character of her.

For a moment, they were concerned she was unconscious because of how stationary she was until she slightly moved.

"Oh my god, this is much worse than I expected." Ashlyn says.

They all surrounded her while Kourtney shook her body. "Nini, what's wrong? We haven't heard from you in about a month now."

Nini shrugged and hid her face in her couch pillow. She's definitely regretting giving Kourtney a spare key now. Seb pulled down the pillow. "We're not leaving until you explain."

"It's Friday, so we're free all night, so I'd advise you start talking cuz we ain't goin anywhere." Carlos adds.

Nini grumbles behind her pillow and rolls the opposite way of her invasive friends. "Then you'd better get comfortable because I'm not in the mood."

Gina shrugs. "Fine by us." They all sat around the living room patiently waiting for her to give in. They end up staying for thirty minutes talking amongst themselves as they waited. Nini sighed in defeat and rolled to face them.

"You guys really aren't leaving until I tell you are you?"

They all nodded in unison. Nini sat upright and the others leaned in anticipating what she was going to say. 

"The reason I've been cooping up in my house is because I found out the real reason why Ethan left me at the alter and a few other secrets."

"This should be good." Carlos says.

"Ethan ran away because he had been cheating with this girl named Brooklyn for a few weeks before our wedding and at his bachelor party. She also was at the wedding in Mexico. She pretended to be my friend the whole time, but in reality she was the villain the whole time. Apparently, she had been trying to make Ethan jealous by bringing her boyfriend, but that didn't work because he's still in love with me. Ethan also called Ricky and I out on our fake relationship in front of the whole wedding party. It was mortifying."

The others gasped in horror. Kourtney and Gina wrapped their arms around her. "Oh my god Neens, I'm so sorry to hear about that. What an evil bitch that Brooklyn girl is, and also fuck Ethan! I already hated him, but now I hate him even more." Kourtney says.

"Did anybody know about them?" Gina questions. 

"Yeah my cousin Madison apparently knew a few weeks before my wedding about them, but for some reason she didn't tell me."

"I can't believe your own cousin would betray you like that. I mean I knew she was a bitch, but I thought she had more of a heart than that." Seb states. 

"Girl I still remember where he stays. I'll get EJ and a few other brawny men to handle his ass if you want me to; just say the word." Carlos offers.

Nini snickers and shakes her head. "No, no need for that. Ricky already beat you to it."

"Speaking of Ricky, what's new between you two?" Ashlyn queries. 

Nini begins tearing up just thinking about him. Out of all the things she was distressed about, it was her current status with her best friend that affected her the most. 

"That's a whole thing by itself."

The others were more worried what she meant by that, especially since she had seemed more upset about him than the other events. 

"I fucked up really bad with him. I'm not sure if we'll ever be the same again."

"Worse than the almost kiss?" Ashlyn asks.

Nini nods as she wipes away some tears. "Way worse than that. Ricky and I actually kissed in front of some of the guest when they realized they haven't seen us kiss. When we kissed, it felt like all the problems in the world disappeared. I've never felt like that after being kissed even when I was with Ethan. Afterwards, we ended up having sex, and oh my god I felt like I was on cloud 9 the entire time. That was truly something to experience."

The group couldn't hide their gaped mouths and squeals. "You two had sex?! And you didn't tell us immediately?!" Carlos yells. Seb calmed him down so that Nini could continue. 

"Yeah I didn't tell you guys because I ended up running away from him right after. My head was spinning, and I didn't know what else to do. My feelings had been so unclear then. He also admitted drunkenly that I had broken his heart because he knew we belonged together. He even accidentally admitted to me that he loved me, but I was so overwhelmed at the time. I couldn't even make sense of my own feelings towards him. We haven't spoken since we left the airport, and I've been beating myself up for it ever since."

The group went silent at her confession. Kourtney rested her hand on Nini's knee. "Neens, what do you feel for Ricky?"

"I know that I love having him around more than anyone else in the entire world, and that I hate not being around him because it feels like my other half is missing. I despise not being able to talk to him because I don't know how to appropriately deal with my feelings. I hate that I'm afraid of approaching the person I yearn for the most. I don't think I've ever felt such a mixture of pain and longing for a human being in my life."

Ashlyn walked up to her and held her hand. "Nini, that aching feeling sounds a lot like love."

Nini's face became crimson, and she cringed. "You think so?"

Ashlyn nods. "The way you described him is how someone in love would."

Nini hugged her legs and turned her attention away from her friends, which they took notice of.

"Nini, are you afraid of loving him?" Gina asks.

She didn't answer, but her silence spoke volumes. Realizing she probably wasn't going to answer anymore questions, they chose to change the subject for now.

"Hey Neens, wanna have a sleepover? We can order pizza and brownies and binge a bunch of movies to keep your mind off of all your problems." Kourtney suggests.

Nini gives them a weak smile. "Can we watch Gilmore Girls?" 

Kourtney nods. "Hell yeah we can."

The group kept her busy throughout the night playing Gilmore Girls in the background as they ate comfort food and talked about what was going on in their lives. She was so thankful she had such understanding and caring friends to check on her. She doesn't know what she'd do without them. 

As midnight arrived, one by one they fell asleep across the furniture in her living room. Unsurprisingly, she ended up being the last one standing. She put blankets over all of her sleeping guests and went back to her bed to rest.

Though her body and soul were drained, she could not for the life of her go to sleep. As she lied there in her bed staring blankly at the ceiling fan, she thinks of the luminous blue butterfly and liberation. She cried angry tears when she realized how twisted the universe was.

When she saw she was going to let something go, she didn't think it'd be Ricky who ended up being the one she lost.

The universe really was a depraved bastard. 

***

Ricky hadn't been in any better shape.

Unlike her, he slept less than usual unable to peacefully drift into sleep without her. Due to his lack of sleep, he tended to fall asleep during work hours, and it was hard to ignore the bags under his eyes.

He purposely worked longer hours so he could be distracted from his thoughts, but it only did so much. Ricky had only told Big Red about everything that had went down only because Ricky was incapable of hiding his emotions.

Big Red tried his best to get Ricky to be social or try to talk to Nini about it, but it was to no avail. Ricky had become too comfortable with moping in his room listening to sad love songs on repeat when he wasn't working, and the constant raining wasn't helping his mental state. He also rarely spoke to Red unless he needed to. 

After a full three weeks of this consistent brooding, Big Red had decided that he had let this go on for far too long. Those two idiots needed to stop avoiding each other.

Big Red barges into Ricky's room disturbing his depression nap with the fiercest look on his face.

"Red, what the hell? I'm fucking sleep-"

"It's been raining nonstop for fourteen days in Salt Lake, how do you explain that Richard?!" He cuts him off.

Ricky shrugged looking at his friend with a lost expression. "I don't know, global warming?"

"Wrong. It's raining because God is crying. He's crying because he created you and Nini to be the epitome of the perfect couple for the entire universe, and yet for some reason you two are defying gravity by not being with each other. Why won't you go to her?"

Ricky sighed and sat upright. "Listen man if it were that easy, she'd be in my arms right now. But it's not. She's clearly made her decision on how she feels about me by icing me out again. Now if you don't mind, I'd like to go back to my depression nap."

Ricky pulled his covers over his head hoping Red would leave him be, but Red yanks the comforter off. 

"You didn't seriously think I'd just let that slide did you?"

"Wishful thinking."

"No man, I'm forcing you to join society today. No more sleeping in the afternoon. I'm not gonna make you talk to Nini if you truly don't think you're ready, but you definitely are in need of companionship and maybe freshen up your face before we head out."

Ricky self consciously felt his face up feeling a beard slowly forming. "What did you have in mind?"

"Skateboarding and heading to Denny's maybe even a few drinks."

"Fine, but no promises that I'll be all smiles."

"I'll take what I can get."

"Can we go later though? I want more shut eye."

Big Red snatched Franklin from his bed and held him hostage. "You're not getting him back until you get dressed." He quickly left his room before he could snatch it back. 

Ricky groaned loudly. "I hate you so much right now!"

"No you don't!"

***

Another week rolls by, and Nini is a little better now but still broken up. 

She had been cozily wrapped in a blanket reading a book when she hears a light knock on her door. She was confused since she didn't expect any guest over today. She cracked open the door with caution and peaked her head through. Her face dropped when she saw who it was.

There stood a guilty looking Madison dressed in actual casual clothing holding an elegant basket of various treats. Nini wasn't impressed.

"Hey Nini."

"What're you doing here Madison?"

Madison takes a deep breath. "I just wanted to check up on you since you left pretty upset."

Nini rolled her eyes. "I'm doing great; thanks for checking in. Okay bye." She began closing the door, but Madison stopped it with her foot.

"Nini-

"Friends and loved ones call me Nini. You can call me Nina."

"Nina...I just needed to see you. I'm completely torn about what I did. Please I'd love to apologize correctly. It's been eating me alive."

Nini was iffy about letting her in, but after a mental debate in her head she decided to give her a chance.

"I'm giving you one shot. If you blow it, I never wanna associate with you again. Understand?"

"Yeah of course."

Nini lets her in and guides her to her couch. Nini goes to her kitchen and begins pouring cheap wine. "Not sure if your expensive taste buds would like this, but would you like some wine?"

"Sure."

She pours them both a glass and sits adjacent from her. "So what was so urgent it couldn't wait until after your honeymoon in Cancun?"

"Well I really wanted to give you this apology basket." She hands her the basket, and Nini stared at it unamused.

"There's no way in hell you flew out of country just to give a basket you could've sent."

Madison sets the care package on the coffee table. "You're right. I'm here in person to tell you just how destroyed I am for hurting you Nina. I don't think there will ever be enough sorrys I could say to truly make up for the stunt I pulled. It was so fucked up that I didn't tell you I knew about his affair and allowed them to continue to live discreet."

"I just don't get why you'd do that to me. I know we were never close, but we're still family. I'd hope you'd at least be considerate enough to tell me something like that. Maybe I wouldn't have been as distraught back then had I known."

"I know, I know. I didn't tell you because at the time I thought it was the best to not let you know. I caught them go back to her place a month before the wedding when I was taking a night stroll with Derek. I had threatened both of them saying that I'd expose their affair, but only Ethan felt intimidated. Brooklyn was fully okay with it since she thought that meant she'd get Ethan. I told him to just tell you or I would, but he bolted instead. I figured there was no point in telling you after since you never signed the papers."

"I still wish you would've came to me first."

"Me too, and I've been kicking myself every day for not doing that instead. But at the end of the day, I'm glad you didn't end up with that unfaithful prick. Never got what you saw in him in the first place. Who knows if he would've even left you at the alter had I not caught them."

"I'm not sure what I saw in him either. I guess love really is blind." Nini downs half of her glass. Madison saw her sorrowful face and felt bad for being the reason for it. 

"If it makes you feel any better, after you left Brooklyn was kicked out of the wedding because she was being irrational, and it didn't help that she was drunk. Matt was pissed when he heard everything and walked out on her after."

Nini gave a nod of approval. "Good for Matt. He deserves better."

"Speaking of Matt, he actually ended up bonding with Bethany after they both were left heartbroken by their shitty significant others. They look really good together. They deserve a win too."

"Bethany was such a sweetheart. Sucks she had to deal with Ethan too."

"Well she did slap the shit out of him in the lobby a few moments before you and Ricky came down. It was such a power move; it was truly an honor to be present for it."

Nini smirked, but she couldn't help but feel a little envious she never got a chance to slap him too. Oh well.

"How're you and Ricky if you don't mind me asking?"

Nini's smirk dropped, and Madison immediately felt culpable. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to. Lord knows I don't deserve anything from you."

Nini waves her off. Unlike the first time they talked about Ricky, she felt a little more comfortable. "No, it's fine really. He and I aren't on the best terms right now. I haven't spoken to him since we left the airport, and now it feels like it's too late."

"What? No, it's never too late to correct your mistakes. I mean look at me. I'm standing here begging for you to forgive me and from the looks of it , I think you're in the process of forgiving me, right?"

Nini nodded making Madison smile. "See? And if someone like you can forgive me for doing such an awful thing to you years ago and for being an overall cunt to you since childhood, then he can forgive you for ignoring him."

Nini didn't seem convinced. "It's different with you two. I'm the one in the wrong with Ricky which means I should be the one to approach him, but I'm terrified."

Madison furrowed her brows. "Terrified? What the hell are you scared of? He doesn't bite."

Nini struggled to admit the words that were on the edge of her tongue. "His affection intimidates me."

Madison looked at her as if she were trying to understand astrophysics. She finally connected the dots. "Holy shit, you're scared of loving Ricky?! 

Nini covered her face embarrassed of being caught. 

"Nini, you can't just keep running away from him. You need him, and he needs you."

Nini faced her. "But what if he wakes up one day, realizes he doesn't like what he sees, and leaves? I don't wanna go through that ever again."

"Honey, Ricky isn't Ethan, and it's not fair to compare the two when they're nothing alike. You can't just shun the idea of loving again because your heart was broken by someone else who didn't deserve your heart in the first place."

"I'm so petrified."

"I know giving your heart to someone can be scary since they have complete control, but trust me it's so worth it when it's with the right person."

Nini smiles. "You're eerily good at giving advice."

"Glad you found it useful."

"You know I'm actually not as upset about the whole wedding thing as much as I thought, but you're not off the hook just yet. I understand that you didn't mean any harm, so I'm willing to eventually let this go."

"Thank you so much, and I completely understand. Take your time."

"Also, you get brownie points for bringing me these sweets. It's surprisingly considerate of you."

"Maybe I'm not the dragon in human skin you think I am." She says with a wink.

Nini chortles. "Oh shit, you heard us?"

"Ricky isn't as quiet as he thinks. Don't worry; I thought it was funny and well deserved." Madison checks her watch and gasps. "Oo my private jet takes off in an hour. I should get going before the rain gets too severe."

"Well I have to admit, I enjoyed your company way more than I thought I would."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"Next time you're in Salt Lake, hit me up so we can have tea at this fancy café I know downtown. It seems right up your alley."

"Will do."

They both stand and embrace each other in a hug. "Don't be a stranger."

"I wouldn't dream of it Nina."

"Nini is fine."

Madison couldn't help the smile that reached her lips. They released from each other, and Nini walked her to the door.

"Enjoy your care package, and for the love of god don't be afraid of loving that man. You shouldn't leave a good man like that waiting too long or else some other chick will sweep him off his feet. You guys are clearly meant for each other."

"Alright, alright." Nini blushes as she closes the door and says her final goodbyes. 

***

She appears in the same meadow she dreamt of that morning of the wedding in the same apparel. She heard the harp playing music except it sounded a bit more somber.

She began strolling through the grasses trying to remember her way to that faceless man. A blue butterfly flew in front of her, and she knew for a fact that she had to follow it.

It lead her straight to the man except this time he had been standing in a garden of daisies that matched her flower crown.

"You again."

"I have freedom from hate, but not from lies. I'm usually seen through clouded eyes. I come unexpected, though you wait for me all your life. I can't be brought yet some people try. What am I?"

She tried to comprehend the riddle taking it piece by piece in her head. Usually riddles like these have very simple answers that have always been right under your nose the whole time. She randomly remembered the fortune teller's words from the square.

_“You must follow the spiritual guides when they approach you to find peace... the spirits have your best interest at heart and they come in different shapes and sizes."_

That's when it all clicked.

The butterflies were the spirit guides that had been trying to lead her to peace, but she kept stupidly ignoring them because of her fear. Every time a butterfly would appear, she had either been with Ricky or thinking about being around him.

She knew the answer now. How could she have been so blind?

The faceless man stepped forward. "Who am I Nina?"

"You're true love."

Butterflies emerge from all over the place circling around the two causing the fog to steadily vanish. When the fog clears, she gasps at the man's face.

Ricky.

She steps up to him and cups both sides of his face. 

"It's you."

He smirks and then winks at her. 

"It always has been."

He pushes a strand of her hair behind her ear before the swarm of butterflies comes between them once again.

She wakes up from her sleep feeling a wave of enthusiasm come over her. She beams for the first time in over a month now that everything makes sense.

Of course it was Ricky.

The answer will _always_ be Ricky. 

She jumps out of bed and throws on whatever clean dress she can find. She does a quick touch up on her makeup and hair until she felt decent. She grabs her essentials and runs out of the door with only one goal in mind.

Tell him how she feels.

***

Nini sprinted to his apartment complex accidentally tripping on a few curbs and bumping into multiple people saying a quick apology without stopping. The adrenaline in her body was at an all time high, and she couldn't feel how exhausted she actually was.

She barges through the main entrance and runs to the elevator, but halts when she sees it's out of service. She cusses under her breath and books it up the six flights of stairs to his door.

When she finally reaches his door, she's completely winded but mustered up the strength to knock. After a few seconds, the door creaks open, and she beams until she notices it's not who she was anticipating.

"Oh, hey Red."

"Wow nice to see you too Neens."

"Sorry you know I adore you, but I'm kinda on a role right now and I'm not sure how long it's gonna last. Is Ricky home?"

He shakes his head. "Sorry, he went out to go clear his head or something like that about an hour ago."

"Did he say where he went? I really need to talk to him."

"He didn't say an actual place, but he did say he went to his happy place. I have no idea where the hell that is though."

"Okay, I can work with that. Thanks Red!" She began sprinting to the stairs. She overheard him yell "good luck!" as she ran. When she got outside, she tried to think of his happy place. She was aware he had one, but he never told her where it was since he liked having it to himself.

Maybe his old treehouse? No, that was far too easy to guess. Possibly Candy Corner? No, way too public. Then where the hell was it? She sees a glowing blue figure in her peripheral vision and gasped when she saw what it was. The same blue butterfly.

"Hey! Man am I glad to see you. Do you think you could lead me to Ricky? I'm finally ready."

The butterfly turned around and began flying away. She didn't even hesitate to follow it. The luminous insect takes her on one hell of a trek that eventually led her to the countryside of Salt Lake where the cabins and camping sites usually were.

Nini didn't realize where she was until she sees the crystal blue lake with one of the most alluring views in all of the city. She had dragged Ricky out here when they were writing their song for their theater project so they had nice scenery as they worked. 

The butterfly leads her to a dock, and her heart begins beating fast when she sees him sitting on the edge of the bridge skipping pebbles into the water. She speed walks to the wooden bridge feeling like she was finally in control of her emotions. She can do this.

She steps on a rather loud plank causing him to turn around to look at her. She becomes completely still when they meet eyes. It's like they were stuck in time. He slowly gets up and steadily makes his way to her.

He's scanning her as if he's trying to make sure she's real.

"Hi."

He stops a little taken aback that she's actually there. "Hey."

"I've been looking all over for you."

"You were?"

She nods. "Yeah, I just have something I really need to tell you."

He raises a brow. "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah, I uh just wanted to say that...um." She gets lost in his eyes for a second, and a part of her was trying to persuade her to abort mission. But she stood her ground. She already made it this far. She won't live her life in fear any longer. She takes a deep breath.

"I'm a fucking idiot. I have been crying, contemplating, and reflecting nonstop for the past month and a half over everything that's happened. But mostly on us. I couldn't understand what exactly was the feeling I was feeling when I was with you in Mexico. It had already been there before we arrived, but it bloomed when we were spending every second with each other. It definitely enhanced after we kissed and then slept together. I was so scared of that weird sensation in my heart because it was foreign to me. I have never in my life felt that emotion and was too much of a coward to find out what it is because I didn't know if finding out what it was would hurt or benefit us. But you see that was the problem. I never took the time to try to understand what I was feeling, and it lead to me running and pushing you away."

She took a step closer to him not breaking her eye contact with him. 

"Since we were kids, you had already held a special place in my heart. You were always more than a friendship no matter how hard I tried to ignore it. I knew that deep down you were so much more. That butterfly analogy I talked about with you at the harbor was a bigger sign than I thought and same with that damn fortune teller. I finally understand what both were trying to tell me."

She grabbed both of his hands and placed it on her heart.

"The liberation part wasn't about letting you go. It was about letting Ethan's imaginary grip on me go. It's about letting go of my own insecurities. And most importantly of all, it's about letting go of my fear of loving you so I can start a new beginning with you. I'm so so sorry it took me so long to figure out I loved you. But if there's anything I've learned from this all is that no one could ever compare to you Ricky. I never wanna live another second on this earth without you because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible. I want you Ricky Bowen because you are my person. My one and only, and I'm willing to give you my heart if you'll still have me."

She waits for him to say something, but he was stunned. He unlatched their hands and gently cups her face caressing her cheeks. 

"Nini, I've known I loved you since you lit up that lantern on that harbor. I've probably been in love with you for longer than that, but was too scared to act on it because I didn't wanna lose you if you didn't feel the same or if our relationship ended on bad terms. I'd rather die than not have you in my life at all. It felt like I was suffocating when you weren't speaking to me. I felt like someone dug a knife in my chest and ripped out my heart. But if there's a lesson I learned from this whole charade is that my heart is forever in your hands, and it would be an honor to be called yours until the end of time. Nina Salazar-Roberts I know I'll love you forever because you are the other half of my heart. I'll always find my way back to you."

Both had begun crying tears of pure joy. Not wanting to spend another second not in each other's arms, they close the distance between each other. They kiss with so much passion, fierceness, and pining and it's overwhelming in the best way possible.

They can feel their tears on each others faces, but they don't mind one bit. They pull each other even closer leaving zero space for air. They both are so into the kiss they accidentally lose balance and fall down to their knees, but it didn't stop their kiss. They only stopped when neither could breathe anymore.

Ricky gave a few pecks on her cheek and one more on her lips before resting his head on hers. They both smiled from ear to ear. She was the first to speak.

"So..."

"So."

"What does this mean for us?"

"Neens, I want you more than anything."

She kissed him briefly before smiling. "I'm all yours. Always have been."

In a heartbeat, his lips were glued to hers.

***

_Six Months Later_

"Ready Neens?"

She nodded behind her blindfold. "More than ever."

He undid the blindfold on her. "Ta da!"

Her eyes twinkled in awe at view in front of her. He had decorated the dock they confessed at in blue Christmas lights as a homage to the butterflies. There was a table set up with meals ready for them, and two orange lanterns that symbolized the night he realized he loved her.

"Happy 6 month anniversary! Do you like it?"

She was speechless. She turned to look at him and began tearing up, which alarmed him.

"Oh my god, you don't like it do you? I knew the lights were too much. We can just go to-

She shut him up with her lips. He smiled against her lips as they kissed. 

"I love when you shut me up like that."

"I love it. I couldn't have asked for a better anniversary."

"I'm glad you love it, but I know what you're going to love more." He dragged them to the table and placed lanterns in both of their hands. He lit up each lantern and they both put them in position. 

"Ready?"

She nods enthusiastically. "Yep!"

They both released their lantern into the sky watching as it drifted off into the atmosphere. Ricky looked down at the girl in his arms and felt his heart skip a beat at how breathtaking she was. 

He was so lucky to be able to wake up next to someone as perfect as her every morning. He knows he'll never get tired of this euphoria. He'll never outgrow her. She's everything he ever wanted. When she felt him staring at her, she looked at him. 

"What're you thinking about?"

He presses a kiss to her forehead. 

"I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you."

***

_You've been my inspiration._

_Through the lies you were the truth._

_My world is a better place because of you._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe it's over! I almost cried when I finished this. It's gonna feel so weird not updating this story. It became my baby and passion project! I'll probably write one shots based off of it in my one shot book or a bonus chapter. 
> 
> Hopefully the ending was satisfying for you! If not, I'm sorry dude.
> 
> Quote is from Celine Dion.
> 
> Thank you so much for your love and comments! It’s been an amazing experience.

**Author's Note:**

> I mixed two chapters together in this one. I haven’t decided if I want to make it 15 chapters or 17 but it’s probably going to be one of those, but we’ll see.


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